HELENSBURGH Music Society’s 2018-19 winter concert season resumes this Saturday, January 19, after the festive break when the Sinopia String Quartet take to the stage at the Tower Digital Arts Centre.

The Sinopia Quartet comprises four of Scotland’s leading young professional string players – Gabi Maas and Dániel Mészöly on violin, Elaine Koene on viola, and Laura Sergeant on cello.

It's the third concert in the latest HMS winter series, following previous performances by Timothy Ridout and Jâms Coleman in October, and the Dick Lee Swingtet in November.

Further concerts in the series will see the A4 Brass Quartet play on February 16, and pianist Sarah Beth Briggs give a performance on March 16.

Graduates of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Cambridge University and The Guildhall School of Music, the for members of the Sinopia String Quartet have gained various chamber music, orchestral and solo prizes.

Collectively, their experience includes performing with various orchestras and ensembles including the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Scottish Opera, Scottish Ballet, Northern Ballet, The Hallé, European Union Youth Orchestra and the Ulster Orchestra.

The players have performed in various countries including Germany, Italy, France, Norway and Mauritius, while their 2018-19 Scottish tour includes dates in Banchory, Thurso and Inverness as well as in Helensburgh.

READ MORE: Timothy Ridout and Jâms Coleman set for Helensburgh stage

Gabi Maas plays violin and nyckelharpa (a Swedish keyed fiddle) with groups including Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, English Baroque Soloists, Concerto Caledonia and the Society of Strange and Ancient Instruments.

After studying at Chetham’s School of Music with Benedict Holland and Robin Ireland, Gabi studied modern languages at Cambridge University, and subsequently graduated from Oxford with a doctorate on Berber music in Kabylia (northeast Algeria).

Her thesis, based on experiences playing with traditional musicians from the region, explored the role of village singer-poets in mountain musical communities and at informal music gatherings held in Kabyle-owned Paris cafes.

In 2015 she played nyckelharpa at Sharq Taronalari festival in Samarkand (Uzbekistan) as part of the Early English Trio, and studied for a month in Chennai with the Carnatic violinist Vittal Ramamurthy.

Dániel Mészöly started playing the violin in Hungary before moving to Scotland in 2010 to study at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, where he graduated with a First Class Honours Degree and later a Master’s Degree studying with Chris George.

This was possible with scholarships from the RCS Trust and the Help Musicians UK Parikian Award.

As a freelance musician Dániel enjoys a varied career on baroque and modern violin and viola. As a soloist he has performed the Sibelius Violin Concerto accompanied by the RSNO, the Korngold Violin Concerto with the Glasgow Orchestral Society and the Bach A minor Violin Concerto with the Edinbugh University String Orchestra.

As an orchestral and chamber musician he plays with the London Symphony Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Manchester Camerata, Concerto Caledonia and Ludus Baroque, and leads the Broen Ensemble.

READ MORE: Dick Lee Swingtet to play live in Helensburgh

Laura Sergeant is an active chamber musician and orchestral, and period instrument player. Originally from Larbert, she studied at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Hochschule für Künste in Bremen, and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

She was a member of the European Union Youth Orchestra and has played at festivals including the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, the Singapore Friendship Festival, The Cottier Chamber Project, and the Greenwich International String Quartet Festival.

She regularly freelances with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Scottish Opera where she was the cellist in Lliam Paterson’s new chamber opera, BambinO, which toured to the New York Metropolitan Opera and Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris.

Laura’s solo appearances have included performances of concertos by Schumann and Dvorák. In addition to her orchestral work, Laura performs throughout Scotland with guitarist Ian Watt and as part of the Sinopia String Quartet.

READ MORE: Helensburgh Music Society unveils 2018-19 series of five concerts 

Their Helensburgh programme features four pieces: Haydn’s Quartet Op. 76 No. 1, the Kodaly Quartet No. 2, a selection from Les Vendredis, and Debussy’s Quartet in G minor Op. 10.

The concert takes place at the Tower Digital Arts Centre on Saturday, January 19 at 7.30pm.

Single tickets, costing £12 for adults, £5 for students and £1 for those under 18, are available online at helensburghboxoffice.com/live, or at the Tower box office, in advance or on the door, subject to availability.