After seven years with the Australian String Quartet, cellist Sharon Grigoryan is moving on to spend more family time with husband and duo partner Slava Grigoryan and their young son. Limelight caught up with her ahead of her final concert with the ensemble to find out the highpoints and the challenges of her ASQ life and what the future holds.

Was leaving the ASQ a difficult decision, and is it one you considered it at other points over the last seven years?

It was a huge decision, and one that I didn’t take lightly. So much so, that I was actually grappling with this decision for years before I had made up my mind! It’s such a privileged position to hold, that it deserves much consideration, and also perseverance, before deciding that you want to hand it all in. To be honest, I had considered leaving earlier on. When I moved to Adelaide for this job, I was in my twenties and recently single. I was ready to dedicate my whole life and soul to string quartet playing. I’d been in the orchestral and chamber orchestral scene for the previous decade and was ready to really buckle down and challenge myself....