Saint John String Quartet comes together to bring classical music to students

The Saint John String Quartet performed at St. Thomas University on Oct. 2. (Brianna Lyttle/AQ)

The Saint John String Quartet (SJSQ) captivated the audience sitting in the Kinsella Auditorium the evening of Oct. 2. 

The performance, which opened their Virtuoso concert series at St. Thomas University, sold tickets at the door to the general public while faculty and students of STU and UNB were allowed in free of charge.

The waived price for students was made possible through a decades-long close relationship between SJSQ and STU Fine Arts director Martin Kutnowski, along with UNB music professor Yvonne Kershaw. 

“Making it as accessible as we can for as many people as we can is key,” said violist Robin Streb.

Along with Francavilla and Streb, the performers currently consist of violinist Dani Semetz and cellist Chris Yoon. 

The string quartet performs at STU  at least four times during the calendar year, while also performing at the UNB Saint John campus in their informal concert series sponsored by the Lorenzo Society.

“One of the fun things is when we come here, we usually play for the composition class,” said Francavilla. “That’s one of the things about playing on campus in general, the interactions with students is a really fun thing to have.”

For Yoon, his favourite part of performing is being able to explore the works of different composers. 

Dani Semetz, on the other hand, enjoys being musically surprised by her colleagues.

“It’s like having a conversation without talking,” said Semetz. “You can always see something different. Every performance is different, which is exciting.”

SJSQ is a renowned member of the Symphony New Brunswick family, having been together for three decades. 

The quartet has toured through Europe, the Far East, and South America, and earned a Juno nomination, along with an East Coast Music Award and Music NB Award as recording artists.

With the show titled Virtuoso 1: Starlight Starbright, the compositions chosen transported listeners into a Van Gogh painting. 

Before the music began, the performers encouraged the audience to move closer to the front to make for a more close-knit experience. 

The program consisted of three compositions: Métis composer Ian Cusson’s Yume (Dreams), followed by If the stars align… by New Zealand singer-composer Leila Adu-Gilmore and Felix Mendelssohn’s classic String Quartet No. 6.

Yume (Dreams) began with haunting, lilting harmonies suggesting a lurking darkness beneath. Pauses were also incorporated into the music for the purpose of highlighting the story, with intensity building up to pivotal moments.

Cusson’s musical composition was inspired by the 1990 anthology film Dreams by Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa. The composition decrescendoed into quiet before building back up again, varying their dynamics.

In between sets, the audience was encouraged to close their eyes and take in the music, with many following suit. 

The sonic imagery created in their performance could be described as that of a raging storm morphing into a bouncy spring day and back again, with Streb plucking out a dynamic viola solo. 

The final composition of the night began intensely with musicians plucking the strings with expert precision to keep up. The songs levelled out into a steady pattern before picking up into swingy, plucky rhythms. 

At the conclusion, the audience rose to their feet and gave the quartet a standing ovation.

The next installment of the Virtuoso series will be held on Nov. 6 at the same location, titled Now & Then.