In 2026, Variations hopes to launch the Variations String Quartet Challenge, to encourage more younger amateur musicians to form quartets and play together regularly.

This is an open competition for 18 – 40 year olds. They will be invited to submit recordings of a couple of movements (one of them will be a test piece) from which the Edinburgh Quartet will draw up a list of 4 finalists, and also identify quartets that show promise. The finalists will perform an entire quartet each at a public concert in April 2026, with the Edinburgh Quartet as judges, The winning quartet members will be given a free pass to Variations 2026 in Ullapool. There will also be several follow up one day workshops with the Edinburgh Quartet for selected Challenge participants.

The Hugh Fraser Foundation has kindly committed funding to support the Challenge. Other funding applications are in the pipeline, and by the end of 2025 we hope to confirm the Challenge will go ahead. Anyone who might consider participating – watch this space and the Variations Facebook and  Instagram pages for more details.