BRATTLEBORO \u2014 Daylight Saving Time returns on Sunday, March 8, and the Joyous Fire String Quartet will celebrate the light with a concert that day at Brattleboro Music Center, starting at 4 p.m.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are four dear friends who share decades of history and music-making together,\u201d said cellist Sabine Rhyne. \u201cWe chose our name because we actively make it a priority to tap into the light of joy and the passion of inner fire in our music making.\u201d<\/p>\n
The members of the group are violinists Kathy Andrew and Michelle Liechti, violist Gregory Diehl, and Rhyne.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe realized that our concert was scheduled on the occasion of Daylight Saving Time,\u201d Rhyne said, \u201cso we titled it \u2018Springing Forward with Haydn and Mozart\u2019 in a tongue-in-cheek reminder to our audience (about resetting their clocks).\u201d<\/p>\n
Violinist Kathy Andrew added, \u201cAlso, it has been fun and interesting to research how these composers overlapped, how they respected each other and might have influenced each other, and even been present when these pieces were first performed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Three of the members teach and play at Brattleboro Music Center, \u201ca vital hub for music-making in Brattleboro,\u201d Rhyne said. \u201cOur community is so interwoven with music and musicians \u2014 it\u2019s an amazing place. Gregory joins us from western Massachusetts, where he also teaches and performs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Years ago, Rhyne said, the quartet began playing in the Brattleboro Food Co-op caf\u00e9 at lunchtime, earning shareholder hours, a practice that continues.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe sight-read string quartets, most often those by Haydn, and we just have a blast,\u201d she said. \u201cWe are loose, we thoroughly enjoy each other, and we like playing through the extensive Haydn quartet literature. Occasionally, we play pieces by other composers, but Haydn is always at the top of the list. The music is so clever, interesting, and surprising. It\u2019s just fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
The group does not have a set schedule for its noon-time playing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are all professional musicians with challenging playing and teaching schedules,\u201d Rhyne said, \u201cso we struggle to find compatible times. That makes it even more special when it happens \u2014 and more of a surprise for our audience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shoppers seem pleasantly surprised to hear the music, Rhyne said. \u201cThey follow the sound, peek around the corner, and realize that there is a live string quartet playing great classical music,\u201d she said. \u201cThey are usually delighted, thankfully. They sit and listen, applaud, and even sometimes ask us questions.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe especially notice,\u201d Andrew said, \u201chow young kids are intrigued, often quite transfixed.\u201d<\/p>\n
In this concert, the group will play two Haydn quartets from opus 33 and opus 76, and one Mozart quartet in E-flat, KV 428.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe hope that everyone in the audience feels warm inside when they leave,\u201d Rhyne said, \u201cwith the hope expressed in these wonderful pieces (carrying into) the days and months ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rhyne has been playing the cello since she was 12, though she began studying piano much earlier. She teaches because \u201cof the dozens of joyful moments I have with my students, both young and mature. In these intimate moments, when we struggle to do something new, something beautiful, we express some of the best things about being human. It\u2019s a privilege for me to be a part of that.\u201d<\/p>\n