Paul Wright, 1st violin
Pascale Whiting, 2nd violin
Katherine Potter, viola
Sophie Curtis, cello
Initially formed in 2003, the Sartory String Quartet comprises some of Australia's most respected classical
chamber musicians. Award winners in their own right, Paul, Pascale, Kathy and Sophie are passionate about
delivering engaging musical experiences. Together they aim to be key contributors to the cultural landscape of
Western Australia through high quality performance, education and community outreach.
Pascale, Kathy and Sophie formed the Sartory String Quartet together with original first violinist Emily Dupere
(nee Thompson) while students at the University of Western Australia. In 2009/10 they were joined by Daniel Kossov
(previously concertmaster of the West Australian Symphony Orchestra) in the first violin chair. Their current first violinist,
Paul Wright (previously UWA Winthrop Professor and Director of String Studies) joined them in 2011.
The quartet regularly perform throughout Western Australia and have appeared in concert series at the University of Western Australia, the WA Academy of Performing Arts, the Blackwood River Chamber Music Festival, Royal Schools of Music Club and in self-promoted concerts. In 2016 they were featured artists in Perth Chamber Orchestra’s ‘An Irish Night’ and continue to hold principal roles with the bigger Perth Symphony Orchestra.
Since 2012 the quartet has been ensemble-in-residence at the annual WA Young Artists Chamber Music Program. Their involvement as mentors in the Program includes giving tutorials, assisting in rehearsals of chamber groups and orchestra, workshop discussions and performances. The Program is an important part of their mission to educate and inspire the next generation of young musicians.
During their time as students the quartet won various chamber music prizes including the Matilda Award for Cultural Excellence and the Graham Wood prize for chamber music in the Fremantle Eisteddfod. In 2005 the quartet was chosen to represent Western Australia at the World Expo in Aichi, Japan and in 2007 they toured New South Wales and Victoria as the Australian Youth Orchestra's Young Australian Concert Artists Regional Resident String Quartet. During this time the quartet performed and recorded the premiere of Elegy, for string quartet by Australian composer Gordon Kerry.
Paul Wright
Adelaide-born Paul Wright began violin studies with Lyndall Hendrickson at the age of 8, and three years later was awarded a place at the Yehudi Menuhin School in England. He went on to study at the Guildhall School in London, after which he was accepted as a student at the Julliard School in New York, where he studied under Ivan Galamian. He has performed with many orchestras and ensembles in Australia and America as a director, soloist or concertmaster, including the Australian String Quartet, the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Ensemble of the Classic Era, Australian Brandenburg Orchestra and the West Australian Symphony Orchestra. Paul spent 2009-2010 as resident teacher and chamber music coach at the Australian National Academy of Music in Melbourne. Upon his return to Perth in 2011, Paul was appointed Winthrop Professor at The University of Western Australia where he held the position of Head of Strings until retiring mid-2015 to focus on a variety of freelance pursuits. In 2015 Paul was appointed Senior Music Fellow of St George’s College where he mentors the Early Music Ensemble, String Quartet and Chamber Orchestra of St George’s College.
Pascale Whiting
Pascale began her violin studies at the age of seven, playing and touring nationally and internationally from a young age with the Western Australian Youth Orchestra, Australian Youth Orchestra and various small ensembles. She graduated from the University of Western Australia with a Bachelor of Music (Performance) degree in 2007. Pascale regularly performs with various Symphony and Chamber orchestras and currently holds the position of Principal Second Violin with both the Perth Symphony and Perth Chamber Orchestras. She is in demand as a performer and recording artist on both baroque and modern violin, across a wide range of musical genres with local and visiting international artists. As a music educator, Pascale has performed and toured throughout metropolitan and regional WA and interstate with the Musica Viva In Schools over a ten year period, in addition to being engaged as a tutor for the WA Young Artists Chamber Music Program and teaching violin at a number of Perth schools and privately. Pascale is a founding member of Sartory String Quartet since its inception in 2003 with performances in Japan, and throughout Australia at a number of chamber music festivals and concert series.
Katherine Potter
Katherine Potter (formerly Corecig) is a freelance violist and emerging composer with an interesting musical background, having completed Bachelors of Music in both jazz performance (WA Academy of Performing Arts) and classical performance (University of Western Australia, with First-Class Honours, studying under Tzvi Friedl). Katherine has been a member of the Sartory String Quartet since 2003, performing nationally and overseas, and was a 2006 Australian Chamber Orchestra Emerging Artist. Katherine has performed as a casual violist with the WA Symphony Orchestra since 2007 and from time to time plays as Principal Violist with the Perth Symphony Orchestra. Katherine has composed concert, film and dance music which has been performed in Australia, the US and Canada, and has a predilection for writing new soundtracks for 1920s silent films. Katherine has been a recipient of two DCA Development Grants and an Australia Council Artstart grant.
Sophie Curtis
Sophie Curtis is in high demand in Western Australia as soloist, chamber musician, orchestral section leader, recording artist and educator. She enjoys a varied freelance career which includes regular performances as Principal Cellist of the Perth Symphony and Perth Chamber Orchestras. A passionate chamber musician, Sophie performs regularly with the Sartory String Quartet and directs the annual WA Young Artists Chamber Music Program – a program she founded in 2011. Sophie completed her Bachelor of Music with Honours at the University of Western Australia and after several short periods of study overseas she completed her Master of Music degree in Baroque Cello at UWA. Highlights in Sophie’s career have included appearing as soloist in the Elgar Cello Concerto with both the Perth Symphony Orchestra and the Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, performing the Lalo Cello Concerto with the Western Australian Youth Orchestra, touring Europe with the Western Australian Youth Orchestra, studying with her piano trio at the Yale Summer School of Music and performing to hundreds of Australian schools as part of the Musica Viva In Schools Program (between 2004 and 2015).