The ANAM alumni ensemble Affinity Quartet are celebrating their tenth year in 2025 and already it’s been a big one for the ensemble, comprising founding members Mee Na Lojewski (cello 2014) and Nicholas Waters (violin 2016), with Shane Chen (violin 2012), and Josef Hanna (violin 2021) on viola.
Mee Na completed an ANAM Fellowship in 2015 to form Affinity and curate a collaborative chamber music program. Almost a decade later, and boasting several international awards for the ensemble, Mee Na is now currently a recipient of the inaugural ANAM Ian Potter Emerging Performers Fellowship for 2024-25.
The Ian Potter Emerging Performers Fellowship supports the careers of two ANAM alumni musicians each year, who are seeking to establish an independent artistic practice. Made possible by the generous support of the Ian Potter Cultural Trust, the Fellowship provides financial support of $50k annually for two years, as well as industry mentorship to address the skills required for an ongoing, sustainable career.
Mee Na is in the final months of the two-year Fellowship, and says its impact has been substantial in expanding performance opportunities and outreach of Affinity Quartet, which she largely self-manages.
The Quartet have recently returned from a five-week European performance tour, commencing with a rehearsal residency in the UK with violist, composer and former ANAM Artistic Director Brett Dean.
They performed their debut at the Rheingau Musik Festival in Germany – a three-month summer festival featuring artists from across the world. They presented two programs, the first entitled ‘Australian Double-Power’ with Haydn’s String Quartet op. 64 no. 2, Brett Dean’s String Quartet no. 3 ‘Hidden Agendas’, and Brahms’ String Quintet no. 1 with Brett himself joining the group on the additional viola part. The second program was a Mozart program, performed by the quartet at the picturesque Eberbach Monastery, where audiences could ‘choose their own adventure’ across multiple sites in the monastery’s buildings to hear various ensembles perform Mozart’s chamber works.
Affinity Quartet with violist Brett Dean performing at Schloss Johannisberg, at the Rheingau Musik Festival. Image credit: Tanja Nitzke
Then it was off to Finland, to perform at the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival. The Festival, which takes place across two weeks in the small town of Kuhmo, home to just 8000 residents in eastern Finland, is one of the world’s leading music festivals. This year marked its 55th anniversary, and over the years has made a remarkable impact to the town’s infrastructure. With humble beginnings in Kuhmo’s beautiful wooden church, over time this extraordinary Festival has brought about the building of the town’s Arts Centre and the Tuupala Primary School, purpose-built not only for the education of students throughout the year, but also to accommodate rehearsals and performances of the annual summer Chamber Music Festival. Over 200 bicycles were utilised for artists to travel around the town during the Festival, and many Kuhmo residents billet and give their homes for artist accommodation. It is truly a community effort, and the Affinity Quartet members were greatly inspired by this commitment and generosity.
“The Festival’s artistic directors, husband-and-wife team Antti Tikkanen and Minna Pensola (founding members of the Meta4 Quartet), have described this annual festival as a ‘human experiment’ where they have created a musical mecca.” explains Mee Na. “They feel the responsibility of custodianship for this Festival and its substantial legacy. This year, across 57 performances in two weeks, they brought a rich musical ecosystem to Kuhmo.”
The Affinity Quartet played in 13 of those performances, not only as a stand-alone quartet, but also performing alongside other Festival artists. And in addition, the Affinity Quartet members hosted instrumental and chamber music masterclasses.
Affinity Quartet perform at the picturesque Kuhmo Church as part of the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival. Image credit: Jonas Kukkonen
“The Kuhmo Festival schedule was one of the most demanding we’ve ever experienced – we rehearsed and performed a vast range of repertoire, and our time was scheduled from 10am each morning, through to rehearsals concluding at 11pm or 11.30pm each night. And yet, it did not seem too intense. There was always a sense of calm, laid-back professionalism, and opportunities to socialise and mix with artists both experienced and emerging. There is a strong commitment amongst the Festival artists to pass on their knowledge to younger players. And indeed, many of the Finnish artists performing at the Festival were previously mentored in the Festival’s young artist programs, and now they return to give back to the next generation.”
Mee Na noticed that it seemed completely normal for younger artists, such as those in their 20s, to be already mentoring school-aged participants in the art of chamber music, something that rarely occurs in Australia. “It seems we have a lot of older, highly experienced musicians performing chamber music in Australia,” observes Mee Na. “It takes a long time to become an established chamber musician here, for many reasons, possibly due to fewer performance opportunities. But here in Europe, we’ve seen that it is normal for younger artists, still being mentored by senior artists themselves, already passing on their knowledge down the line. It’s a continuum that ensures the survival of the genre and its relevance to the upcoming generations.”
It's a model that Mee Na is passionate about bringing to Australia, with our own local flavour. She acknowledges this is an ambitious undertaking, but every big idea must start with small steps toward the end goal.
This year, Mee Na and the Affinity Quartet have launched a new series, TAKE FOUR: Chamber Music For Everyone! which traverses the centuries’ old string quartet artform, taking audiences through much-loved staples of the genre through to contemporary, Australian voices, all in an accessible format for both music-lovers and newcomers alike.
TAKE FOUR programs have been performed in Melbourne and across numerous regional venues, and in late September, Affinity Quartet is taking this concept to the 2025 World Expo in Osaka, Japan, to represent Australian musical culture. Performing two concerts daily over ten days, Affinity Quartet’s programs will feature works from the new guard of Australian composers, such as Alice Chance, Tom Mission and Justin Williams, and also established Australian exports such as Brett Dean and Peter Sculthorpe. And as well as performing classic string quartet works by Beethoven, Debussy and Schubert, they will also include contemporary international voices such as Aleksandra Vrebalov.
“Touring and performing internationally have become an essential part of our practice, and we have been busy with this since 2022,” remarks Mee Na. “Each time we travel, we return home inspired with new skills, new experiences, and more knowledge of how to be valuable to Australians – to our audiences and our fellow artists. The more we perform for different audiences and collaborate with artists of other cultures, (not only in Europe, but also with our neighbours in Asia,) the more we can understand our Australian culture and our place in the world.”
The increase of performances both domestically and overseas takes a great deal of organisation and commitment for Mee Na and her Affinity colleagues. “One of the biggest things the Ian Potter Emerging Performers Fellowship has afforded me is time,” says Mee Na. “Time to properly accept opportunities for the Quartet, to organise touring logistics, to write applications and proposals, to develop new performance series and focus on the growth of the ensemble.” It has allowed her to invest in providing more opportunities for Affinity Quartet to become a sustainable, ongoing presence in Australia’s chamber music landscape.
We look forward to seeing what the next decade will bring to Affinity Quartet, as they continue to make their mark both home and abroad.
Catch the Affinity Quartet in their upcoming Melbourne performances. For their full performance schedule and upcoming tours, visit affinityquartet.com.au
Mon 8 Sep, 8pm
TAKE FOUR: Chamber Music For Everyone!
Tempo Rubato, 34 Breese St, Brunswick VIC
Tickets $35 | $25
Fri 7 Nov, 2pm and 6pm
Incantation
Primrose Potter Salon, Melbourne Recital Centre
Tickets $55 | $45
The Ian Potter Emerging Performers Fellowships support the independent artistic practice of ANAM alumni. Applications for the 2026-2027 Fellowships are now open, visit anam.com.au/alumni/fellowships for more information.
Words by Laura Panther, ANAM Alumni Manager
Photo credits: Will Green (unless otherwise noted above)