The best string quartets in Sydney
Almost every difficulty with this booking comes down to where you put four chairs. Strings carry a sandstone church or a lawn with nobody touching a volume control, and then Sydney adds two things the brochures leave out: breeze coming off the water, and an afternoon sun that wooden instruments genuinely cannot be left sitting in. Solve the position and you have solved most of it.
The category is a small one and hardly any of these groups show a review at all. Put the same brief in front of everybody on the page in one go rather than working down it enquiry by enquiry, and keep a trio in mind as the fallback if your date is already taken.
Top picks in Sydney
Top picks are the acts in this category in Sydney, with the most visible client reviews first, then rating; premium listings break remaining ties.
Questions people ask about string quartets in Sydney
How much is a string quartet for a wedding in Sydney?
The size of the booking moves it more than anything else: a short ceremony engagement is one thing, and the ceremony plus the drinks that follow is another, since four musicians clear the whole afternoon either way. Travel out to the Hunter, the Southern Highlands or the Blue Mountains adds to it, and so does a return trip after a late finish. Read the live from-prices under this text, then ask each group how many minutes of music sit inside their figure.
Can a string quartet play outdoors at a Sydney ceremony?
All the time, and the things to settle are shade and moving air rather than loudness. On a breezy afternoon a harbourside lawn or an exposed clifftop simply carries the music away from the people it was meant for, which is the argument for a pair of discreet microphones. Say in your first message if the site has no power anywhere near it, because running off a battery is a separate piece of equipment.
Can I book a trio instead of a quartet?
Many of the groups on this page quote for three as readily as four, and in a warm, contained space the missing line is not something a guest ever registers. It is one less fee and one less chair to wedge into a terrace courtyard or a narrow chapel. Get both numbers in a single reply and choose with them side by side.
How long can a quartet play for?
Bowing tires the arms, which is why the music comes in blocks with rests built between them instead of running continuously all evening. The service followed by drinks is the comfortable shape and the one most couples here end up choosing. Give them a draft run sheet instead of a start time, since services slip and a group holding the plan will simply keep playing through it.
Can they learn a piece that is not in their repertoire?
Usually, and what really matters is the notice. Somebody has to write out four individual parts before the group can even sit down and rehearse the thing, so asking in the last fortnight is a completely different request from asking in autumn. Choose the processional, the moment of signing and the exit, get those three to the players early, and let them handle everything either side.
Booking tips
Get them into shade before anything else
Left in full sun a violin drifts out of tune between one piece and the next, and the heat is genuinely unkind to old timber and the glue holding it together. A verandah, a tree or the edge of a marquee is the first thing the players will ask you for. Choose that position while you are still planning, not on the morning.
Wind off the harbour eats the sound
On a still lawn with guests close, four strings carry fine. Add a breeze from the water or a road behind the hedge and the back two rows hear almost nothing. Ask whether the group carries a small amplification rig and what power it needs.
Armless chairs on a hard, level surface
Knee room matters to a cellist and so does a floor the spike can bite into, which rules out both the padded function chair with arms and a soft patch of lawn. Sort the seating with your venue at the same time you confirm the players, rather than ten minutes before the aisle.