The collective Viridian Strings wraps up their summer series this week with concerts in Traverse City and Frankfort.
Founded by violist Joe Skerik and cellist Kyle Stachnik, Viridian Strings has different personnel for every recital series. This week’s Viridian Strings includes Skerik, Stachnik and violinists Claire Wells and Oliver Leitner to create a program of string quartets.
The quartet visited IPR’s Studio A this week to give a preview of their performances.
Leitner, who is making his third appearance with Viridian Strings, spoke about the importance of non-verbal communication in chamber music and how it can resemble a discussion.
“Every member of the ensemble has their own role. For example, the cello really directs the sound. Then, the other voices fit on top of that and take on the leading role at different times,” Leitner said. “It’s like a conversation, with each person leading, taking, leading, taking – just trading off roles.”
The program includes string quartets by Joseph Haydn and Maurice Ravel, plus two world premiere performances of music by Ben Webster and by Cherie Van Maanen and Tom Childs.
Wells is the newest member of Viridian Strings, playing with the ensemble for the first time. Despite being new, she said that she has a lot of experience playing with musicians she hadn’t known before.
All of the music on the program is also new to Wells, although she said she applies what she already knows about composers like Ravel and Haydn when approaching other works of theirs.
“You can fall into the corners that you know of the composer’s style,” she said.
The program features two world premieres, which is also exciting to Wells.
“I love to play contemporary music, and it’s really fun to be with new people,” she said. You can find so many different things.”
Viridian Strings will perform on Thursday, August 28 at 7 p.m. at The Alluvion in Traverse City, and again on Friday, August 29 at 7 p.m. at the Oliver Art Center in Frankfort.
Music performed in Studio A:
Maurice Ravel, String Quartet (excerpt)
Michael Culler engineered this edition of Studio A.
Amanda Sewell and Scott Clemens provided additional support.
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