ABOUT NOMAD
The Nomad String Quartet was formed in Sydney as the Ben Adler Quartet in 2021. Thus far, it has given over 140 concerts to more than 50,000 people across Sydney, playing music ranging from Vivaldi to Daft Punk, Mozart to Michael Jackson, Mendelssohn to Danish folk songs, Tchaikovsky to Hans Zimmer, Borodin to Anime soundtracks and more.
All members of Nomad are highly accomplished classical musicians who have performed with the major Australian orchestras; what brings them to Nomad is their love of folk, world music, jazz and other improvised traditions.
Nomad also breaks down the fourth wall to engage directly with the audience, and is passionately committed to breathing new life into classical music. Each Nomad concert experience is a curated journey that is refreshing and titillating to the connoisseur, inviting and accessible to the uninitiated, and emotionally captivating for all.
In Sydney, Nomad has performed at the Sydney Opera House, Museum of Contemporary Art, The Concourse Chatswood, Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace, The Linseed House, The Mint, The Great Synagogue, Australian National Maritime Museum, St Joseph’s Catholic Church, St Stephen’s Uniting Church and Mecca Coffee. The Quartet has also performed in Bundanoon and Sutton Forest, in the Southern Highlands.
Ben Adler is a Sydney based violinist. He founded klezmer fusion band CHUTNEY in 2019, and the Nomad String Quartet in 2021.
Ben studied with Alice Waten at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, where he led the Chamber and Symphony Orchestras and was 2014 Student of the Year (and which is where he met James!). In 2016, Ben was named an Australian Chamber Orchestra Emerging Artist, and has performed and toured nationally as both section member and soloist with the ACO and the ACO Collective (which is where he met Beth!).
Ben has toured Australia and Europe with the Hillel String Quartet and with pianist Will Cesta. In Sydney, he has played with the Australia Piano Quartet, the Sydney Art Quartet, the Opus Now Quartet, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, the Opera Australia Orchestra and the Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra.
He also plays with ARIA winning gypsy band Monsieur Camembert and Ilan Kidron's Glassbreakers, and will be found most Friday nights playing in Emanuel Synagogue’s Shabbat Live band.
In his spare time, in 2021 and 2022 Ben created and taught his own music performance syllabus at the University of New South Wales, which encouraged students to understand music as the communication of emotion. He was Artist in Residence and Head of Musicology at St Andrew’s College, within the University of Sydney, from 2019 to 2021. Ben has also been published in the Sydney Morning Herald and the Sydney Undergraduate Journal of Musicology.
Beth Condon began her studies on the violin at the ripe age of five with her mother Louise “Mother-goose” Ray. At age 13 Beth changed to viola and has since studied under Lilli Maijala, Fiona Sargeant and Caroline Henbest.
Beth the country bumpkin moved to the big smoke and studied at the Australian National Academy of Music from 2016-2018. In 2018 Beth’s quartet ‘Montello’ worked alongside Alasdair Tait and Gerhard Schulz preparing for the ANAM Chamber Music Competition final. In 2018, she was an emerging artist with Australian Chamber Orchestra, and has since worked for ACO as a core educator in the ACO Foundations program in Western Sydney, as well as in other projects as a Violist, including award winning children’s show Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge in 2021.
Beth performs with Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Chamber Orchestra and the OAO (Opera Australia Orchestra). In 2021 Beth became a core member of Nomad String Quartet.
A diverse chamber musician, Beth plays Fiddle in bluegrass band “The Whiskey Sessions,” and enjoys dabbling in improvisation on a Sunday afternoon. When she isn’t fiddling a wooden box she can be found pottering in the garden, flitting around the world (when able to travel), conversing with compadres, or dabbling at drawing at her favorite life drawing spot at SthSthKingSt.
Since completing his formal studies, cellist James Larsen has made appearances as a chamber musician and soloist at festivals throughout Australia, Germany, France, Italy, Canada, and the U.S.A and is a regular feature in the musical life of Sydney as the cellist of the NOMAD String Quartet (formerly the Ben Adler Quartet).
As a founding member of the Geist String Quartet, he has been awarded the Llewelyn Travel Scholarship, Westheimer Fellowship, and Mary Valentine prize whilst studying Eberhard Feltz, the Kuss Quartet, and the Elias Quartet in Europe and America. He has also been awarded the Ruth Pfanner Cello Scholarship, Margot Lewin Prize.
As well as keeping busy as a performing cellist, James is a dedicated teacher, educational conductor, and chamber music coach. He currently serves on the staff of MLC School in Sydney.
James is privileged to perform on instruments by Luiz Amorim and Loeiz Honore, and bows by Michael Maurushat and Pierre Guillaume.
Each cello has its own sound, temperament, and strengths. Currently in a transitional stage between cellos, James looks forward to talking to anyone polite enough to listen about each instrument’s progress.
Georgia Cartlidge started learning violin at the age of 4 learning Suzuki method before studying with Jan Baxter and Elizabeth Jones. She discovered her love of performing through competing annually in eisteddfods and competitions from a young age until high school.
Georgia studied at the Conservatorium High School under renowned violinists Janet Davies, Elisabeth Mitchelmore, and Philippa Paige. She is currently undertaking tertiary studies at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music under the tutelage of Ole Bohn.
Georgia discovered her love for chamber music during her time at the Conservatorium High School, working with Maggie Ferguson in TangoOz for 3 years. As the first non-classical style that she had played, she found an interest in tango music and working in such ensembles. She performs regularly with Nomad String Quartet and recently toured with them in regional NSW.
Georgia has performed with the Australian Youth Orchestra, TangoOz, and the Sydney Conservatorium Symphony Orchestra. She is also a passionate educator, currently working at the Conservatorium High School and Sydney Violin School.