The Flinders Quartet Design Work

In Term 3, Zoe Knighton (cellist and Artistic Director of the Flinders Quartet) introduced the music of Shostakovich to my Year 10 and 11 Visual Communication Students. My students were challenged with a brief to design backdrops and posters for the Quartet that would be displayed in a ‘real-world’ context. The imagery was to be inspired by Bauhaus and Russian Constructivism for their performance of Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 8 at the Melbourne Recital Centre Monday October 30.

After an initial discussion with the client about their needs, the students researched and generated some ideas which they then ‘pitched’ to their client, and then used the feedback they received to direct the development of their designs, before presenting them to the client and receiving a critique of the results. Two posters were chosen to be professionally printed and distributed throughout the city. Congratulations Jasmine and Mary! They looked amazing in that real context and the quality totally belied the young age of the designers.

The VCD students also attended a performance of the concert and were able to see their designs being used as an animated backdrop to a public performance by the Flinders Quartet. The afternoon we attended there was a full house. For the students to see their own design work being used to enhance a brilliant performance by Australia’s premier string quartet was an amazing learning experience. 

Mr. Bill Coomblas, Visual Communication & Design Teacher


Shostakovich and teenagers: an unlikely but perfect match. The music of Shostakovich can open a doorway for us to imagine what it may have been like to live during the early 20th century for some people in the Soviet Union - it paints such a vivid aural picture. There are many themes in Shostakovich's life to which teenagers can relate: oppression, anger, frustration, irony, sarcasm so we loved introducing his music and then seeing where the creativity takes the students. I was overwhelmed with their talent, not only artistically but their ability to find threads in the music which they could then represent visually. Working with these students was incredibly inspiring and their images will certainly impact the audience and us as performers in a very profound way. 

Zoe Knighton | Cellist and Artistic Director of the Flinders Quartet


CONCERT PROGRAM:

Performed Monday, October 30, 2023, at the Melbourne Recital Centre.

New Work – Commissioned by Flinders Quartet
Maria Grenfell

String Quartet No.1 in E ‘From My Life’
Bedřich Smetana

String Quartet No.8 in C minor, Op.110
Dmitri Shostakovich

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