It was in the late evening of Wednesday 20th July 1996 that four of us found ourselves playing a (slightly) off-beat selection of string quartet music to a smoke-filled student audience in an upper room in Edinburgh’s Cowgate. Our subsequent career has twisted and turned, sometimes looping back and sometimes moving on. Certain strands tend to recur, like tango, like Frank Zappa, Henry Purcell and Weather Report, whose music all features in this birthday season. Certain guests keep coming back, certain numbers keep getting repeated, albeit in new instrumentations or arrangements. At the same time composers keep indulging us with new pieces; new projects emerge; new collaborators step out from the shadows.
All will have been for nothing, however, if we have no one with whom to share these musical exploits, which is why I am extending a warm welcome to you all and inviting you to be there to celebrate our twentieth birthday season with us. We, in return, promise to make it as celebratory as we possibly can. Only one more year and we’ll be coming of age - at that point we’ll have to start being sensible, so this is your chance to share with us our last year of irresponsibility.
Robert McFall, founder and Artistic Director
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