The Conservatory String Quartet (CSQ) was a Canadian string quartet

String quartet

A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – usually two violin players, a violist and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group...

 in residence at The Royal Conservatory of Music during the first half of the 20th century. The group actively performed in the Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

 area and regularly toured throughout the Province of Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

. The quartet also notably toured to Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

 in 1942 and 1943. The ensemble performed not only the standard string quartet repertoire but also performed new works by contemporary Canadian composers like Patricia Blomfield Holt

Patricia Blomfield Holt

Patricia Blomfield Holt was a Canadian composer, pianist, and music educator. An associate of the Canadian Music Centre and a member of the Association of Canadian Women Composers, her compositions have been performed by notable musical ensembles throughout North America and Europe...

, Walter MacNutt

Walter MacNutt

Walter Louis MacNutt was a Canadian organist, choir director, and composer. His compositional output includes numerous choral works, songs, pieces for solo organ, and works for orchestra; many of which have been published by companies like Broadcast Music Incorporated, Frederick Harris Music, the...

, and John Weinzweig

John Weinzweig

John Weinzweig, OC, O.Ont was a Canadian composer of classical music.Born in Toronto, Weinzweig went to Harbord Collegiate Institute, and studied music at the university. In 1937, he left for the United States to study under Bernard Rogers...

. The ensemble was also heard many times on CBC Radio

CBC Radio

CBC Radio generally refers to the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which are outlined below.-English:CBC Radio operates three English language...

 but never produced any recordings.

The CSQ was founded by violin

Violin

The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....

ist Elie Spivak in 1929 at the behest of the conservatory's president, Ernest MacMillan

Ernest MacMillan

Sir Ernest Alexander Campbell MacMillan, CC was an internationally renowned Canadian orchestral conductor and composer, and Canada's only "Musical Knight". He is widely regarded as being Canada's pre-eminent musician, from the 1920s through the 1950s...

. The group's other original members consisted of violinist Harold Sumberg

Harold Sumberg

Harold Sumberg was an American-born Canadian violinist, teacher, conductor, and adjudicator.Born in Rochester, New York, he studied violin with Carl Markees, Henry Holst, and Willy Hess at the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin...

, violist

Viola

The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...

 Donald Heins

Donald Heins

Donald Heins was a Canadian violinist, violist, conductor, organist, composer, and music educator of English birth. He notably founded the first professional orchestra in Ottawa, the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra , in 1902, serving as its director until 1927...

, and cellist

Cello

The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...

 Leo Smith

Leo Smith (composer)

Leo Joseph Leopold Smith was an English composer, writer, music critic, music educator, and cellist who was primarily active in Canada...

. The esemble gave its debut performance on 26 October 1929 with guest artists Alberto Guererro, Norah Drewett de Kresz, Florence Singer, Viggo Kihl, and MacMillan. On 19 January 1932 the quartet premiered Smith's Quartet in D.

In 1934 Heins left the CSQ and was succeeded by violist Tom Brennand. Brennand left three years later and was replaced by Cecil Figelski. In 1942 cellist Zara Nelsova

Zara Nelsova

Zara Nelsova was a prominent cellist.She was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, to parents of Russian descent, and first performed at the age of five in Winnipeg...

 joined the group after the departure of Smith. Both Nelsova and Figelski left in 1944 and the group then added Joyce Sands and Harold Carter

Harold Carter

Harold Carter was an Australian rules footballer in the Victorian Football League.Carter made his debut for the Carlton Football Club in Round 3 of the 1924 season. He left the club at the end of the 1928 season....

 to their numbers. At the time of the group's disbandment in 1946, the ensemble consisted of violinist Pearl Palmason, Goldie Bell, and Carter, and Sands. The group was disestablished largely due to illnesses faced by some of its members.