The Maxwell Quartet has made an impact at festivals not only across the UK, but also in continental Europe. The quartet has a strong bent toward contemporary music and toward collaboration with artists in other media. The members of the Maxwell Quartet -- violinists Colin Scobie and George Smith, violist Elliott Perks, and cellist Duncan Strachan -- were good friends when they officially formed the group at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in 2010, having played together in orchestras and music school ensembles. Two key residencies in their early years brought them before audiences across Scotland: the Conservatoire's own Young Artists in Residence program in 2011, and from 2011 to 2013, a stint as Residency Artists with Enterprise Music Scotland. Through a ChamberStudio mentorship program, they worked further with the Endellion Quartet, and studied privately with Hatto Beyerle, founding member of the Alban Berg Quartet. They went on to further residencies at Oxford University and Perth Concert Hall. Their concerts attracted bookers at festivals and concert series, including the Tivoli Concert Hall Series in Denmark, the Amsterdam String Quartet Biennale, and the Trondheim Chamber Music Festival in Norway. Perhaps the most distinctive aspect of the Maxwell Quartet's career is their interest in collaboration with artists outside the realm of classical music, and indeed outside the musical realm in general. They have worked with the theater Cryptic in Glasgow, the Montreal cinematographer Herman Kolgen, and the Royal Ballet School in London, among many others. The quartet has been active in commissioning new string quartets from such contemporary composers as Mark Simpson, Tom Harrold, and Anna Meredith. In 2019, the Maxwell Quartet released its debut album, pairing Haydn's Op. 71 string quartets with their own arrangements of Scottish folk songs, on the Linn label. Their schedule that summer included a tour in the United States. ~ James Manheim