Troubadour Quartet

Lucas graduated with a Bachelor of Music in Classical Performance with First Class Honours under the tutelage of Helene Pohl, Monique Lapins and Martin Riseley at New Zealand School of Music. Lucas won the national NZCT Chamber Music Contest with the Druz’ya Quartet (2017), and concerto competitions with Wellington Youth Orchestra (2021) and New Zealand School of Music (2022). He served as concertmaster for Wellington Youth Orchestra, New Zealand School of Music Orchestra, and NZSO’s National Youth Orchestra. As an active chamber and orchestral musician, Lucas has toured New Zealand with violin piano duo Kōrua and Druz’ya Quintet. He performs regularly with Orchestra Wellington and Hawke’s Bay Orchestra. In 2022, Lucas performed in a masterclass with violin virtuoso Hilary Hahn. Lucas is privileged to play a Pressenda violin, belonging to the late Stephen Managh.

Peter is currently studying at the Australian National Academy of Music. Prior to this, he was in the Classical Performance programme at Victoria University, studying violin with Monique Lapins, and second instrument piano with Jian Liu and Emma Sayers. His journey started in the Suzuki program with Lynley Culliford and doing chamber music weekly in the YMP programme. He has twice won the won the NZCT Chamber Music Contest, on viola in 2019 and on violin in 2020. In 2021, he was invited on a Chamber Music NZ tour with members of his 2020 winning string quartet and musicians from NZSO.

Lauren Jack is a freelance violist based in Pōneke. Originally a violinist, her violin teacher Lynley Culliford and NZSQ members Helene Pohl and Gillian Ansell encouraged Lauren to play viola in a string quartet, which won the NZCT chamber contest and made Lauren fall in love with the instrument, leading her to complete a Bachelor of Music (Hons) in Viola Performance under the tutelage of Gillian Ansell. Her work as a freelance musician includes playing as sub-principal viola in Orchestra Wellington, teaching violin and viola at Arohanui Strings and Queen Margaret’s college, playing in various ensembles in festivals including the Fringe Festival, Cubadupa, and Classical on Cuba, as well as joining the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra as a casual musician, and working as a presenter on RNZ Concert. In every one of these environments she is always working with the belief that everyone deserves to participate in music making and appreciation.

New Zealand-born cellist Vincent Chen, of Taiwanese heritage, started cello lessons at 10 and now studies with James Yoo at the University of Auckland while also pursuing an engineering degree. He has performed as a soloist with the Nelson Symphony Orchestra, and, as part of the Viereinigkeit Quartet, he won the 2021 ROSL/Pettman Chamber Music Scholarship, performing in the UK and premiering a piece by Dame Gillian Whitehead.