Kleio Quartet with Konstantin Shamray

Arriving in Melbourne as one of the most exciting young ensembles on the international stage, Kleio Quartet join forces with virtuoso pianist Konstantin Shamray as part of the Quartet’s debut Australian tour.

Since forming in 2019, the Quartet have taken the classical scene by storm, winning the Carl Nielsen International Chamber Music Competition (2023) and becoming BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists (2024–2026). They have performed in some of the world’s great concert halls and festivals, from Edinburgh to Tokyo, and have been celebrated by superstar Russian violinist Alina Ibragimova for the ‘assuredness and freshness they bring to everything they play.’

The quartet open with Janáček's Intimate Letters , a piece born from the composer's real-life infatuation, its pages aching with longing and confession. The stage then turns to Konstantin Shamray, the pianist whose 'fierce virtuosity and intense expressivity' ( Sydney Morning Herald ) has seen him transform into one of Australia's most in-demand players. His take on Prokofiev's wartime Seventh Piano Sonata leads to interval before quartet and pianist finally unite in Shostakovich's Piano Quintet – a work of dark wit, aching beauty and, ultimately, defiant joy.