The Motswako String Quartet was formed in 2000 under the name four @ play. It comprises of violinists Bernard Madumo and Tshepo Mngoma, violist Tshepo Komane and cellist Kutlwano Masote.

The four are all classically trained string players and work as freelance musicians for the JMI Orchestra, the Johannesburg Philharmonic and Johannesburg Festival Orchestras. Madumo and Komane were members of the National Chamber Orchestra in Mafikeng until its closure in 2000 and are still actively involved in teaching projects in the North-West Province. The two are also founder members of the kwaito group Metswako, which has was nominated for the 2003 Kora All-Africa Awards in the category, Best New Group. Mngoma comes from one of South Africa’s premier musical families and is a University of Cape Town graduate in jazz studies. He has been a part of Joyous Celebration for several years now and performs regularly with his mother Sibongile Khumalo.Masote studied at the Menuhin Academy in Switzerland and was the first black member of the National Symphony Orchestra. He is the chairman of the Johannesburg Music Initiative and has also been an on-air broadcaster on Classic fm since 1999.

Motswako’s strength is in their variety of repertoire. They play a wide selection of classical music, African folk as well as contemporary popular music. The quartet has played at numerous high-profile corporate and government functions and was invited by the South African Embassy to the People’s Republic of China to play in Beijing in August 2002. They also played in the UK and Zambia in July 2003.  In November 2003, they played at the opening of the new South African Embassy building in Berlin, Germany.