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Penny Quartet ×
Ben Robinson

A new string quartet and album.

The collaboration

This partnership began when we collaborated on an arrangement for Penny Quartet's national tour with First Nations singer-songwriter Jess Hitchcock. Through that process, we discovered a shared, energetic musical language and a clear momentum to continue creating music together. This project builds on that momentum.

The project

At its centre is a newly commissioned 20-minute string quartet, developed in close collaboration with the ensemble and expanded into a full program through new quartet arrangements of my recent orchestral and chamber works.

Conceived as a fully collaborative body of work created with a single ensemble, it brings together composition, performance, recording and release in one integrated process — a shared artistic vision.

The music

Together, we will create a work that channels the restless energy of contemporary life while celebrating the intimacy and immediacy of the string quartet, fully engaging Penny Quartet’s technical agility and expressive range.

Alongside the new work, three existing compositions will be reimagined for string quartet:

  • Good Morning Zapruder — reflects on the hold our phones have over our attention and the numbness that can grow from constant exposure.

  • Gross. I Love It. — embracing the strange and unexpected, and exploring satire as a coping mechanism for a generation navigating chaos and uncertainty.

  • Have a Nice Trip — tracing a passage through panic and physiological regulation, with human connection as an anchor.

Together, the works form a complete album with a clear conceptual arc, while creating a substantial new program for Penny Quartet to continue performing.

The Premiere

The project will premiere in November 2026 at Phoenix Central Park’s converted church in Alexandria, followed by a studio recording and digital release — our first album.

Support this project

By contributing, you are directly backing the artists involved and helping us to grow this collaboration from a single string quartet into a broader, ambitious body of music — our first studio album.

Support

Support.

This project wouldn’t be possible without the generosity and shared vision of our supporters:

  • Penny Le Couteur and Greg Dickson

  • Emma and Melwin Nelapati

  • Mark Wakely

  • Liam Johnson

  • Michael Hingston

  • Gill Bowers

  • Michelle Border

  • Samantha Greene

  • Paul Kildea

  • Melanie Miles

  • Lydia Wills

  • Daniel Scott

  • Vanna Lockwood

  • Sam Turner

  • Madeleine and Jake Gregson

  • David Boyce

  • Alice Chance

  • Claire Edwardes

  • Chris Mooney

  • Lynda Latu

  • Susan Buchan

  • Steve and Ash Scott

  • Elizabeth Zhang

  • Rhys Michelis

  • Aran and Anna Chevalier

  • Ellen Goulding

  • Anne Frankenberg

  • Maeve and Dulcie Rathbone

  • Lucy Shorrocks

  • Oliver Cameron

  • Sam Bailey

  • Alice Morgan

  • Lachlan Horsley

  • Oscar Sweeney

  • Ella Howard

  • Peter Scott

  • Anonymous (11)

Partners.

Recording & broadcast partner
performance partner