The Silver Birch String Quartet will be performing its second concert on Saturday, Nov. 14 at 8 p.m.
Greater Sudbury's Silver Birch String Quartet are specialists in chamber music, a form of music they say is pleasing to audiences because it is meant to be an intimate experience between performers and their audiences.
Chamber music, a style of music developed centuries ago in Europe, has a local following.
They will perform their second Mendelssohn Quartet cycle at St. Peter's United Church Saturday. Tickets are $20 for adults, and $15 for students at Black Cat downtown on Durham Street.
They will be playing the three Opus 44 string quartets by Mendelssohn. It is the 200th anniversary of the birth of this German composer of Jewish descent, said Christian Robinson, co-artistic director and violinist with the quartet.
The group named themselves after the birch trees common to northern Ontario,said Robinson. Other members include violinist Geoff McCausland, viola player Jane Russel and Alexandra Lee, who plays the cello. The group has performed for the last five years.
The quartet specializes in a wide range of music, but they are very interested in chamber music, said Robinson.
Chamber music, developed by composers such as Germans Franz Joseph Haydn and Felix Mendelssohn, was originally played in the houses of the aristocracy, he noted.
“In Germany (two to three hundred years ago) each noble would have their own string quartet. They would sponsour the musicians. It was felt that chamber music was for the true music lovers.”
As waves of immigration hit North America, and as chamber music spread through Europe, there was a trend towards performing the music in larger venues after the Second World War, said Robinson.
The music began to appeal to a wider audience because it is acoustically based.
“The experience is intimate. There is an intensity in the music. There seems to be no separation between the audience and the performers. That is because chamber music is meant to be performed close up.”
Russel is a new recruit to the group, said Robinson.
“Jane is a risk taker much like the rest of our group. That means we are all on the same page musically. We like to live on the edge of the music.” She completed her Masters degree at McGill University, and joined the group in June.
The group has been featured in concerts at Wilfred Laurier University, the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society, and the Jazz and Justice series in Montreal and the Ottawa international Jazz festival. Their first CD, Silverbirch, resulted from a lengthy collaboration with Montreal-based jazz pianist John Roney on Montreal's Effendi label.
“Silverbirch was also named one of the top 10 albums by the Montreal Gazette and has received frequent airplay on CBC Radio 2 and Espace Musique,” said Robinson.
They have been invited for a residency at the Banff Centre for the Arts for 11 days beginning Nov. 22.
“The Banff residency is a phenomenal opportunity. We will work with some amazing people, some of the best in North America,” said Robinson. Though the group will not be paid for their performances all their costs will be paid once they are there, said Robinson.
The quartet will perform three times in Banff. They will perform works by Haydn, Brahms and Mendelssohn and have the opportunity to perform with some of the leading chamber musicians, he noted. They include Barry Shiffman, formerly of the St. Lawrence String Quartet, Henk Guittart, of the Schoenberg String Quartet and Joel Sachs, from the Julliard School in New York. The group will also be bringing pieces by local musician Robert Lemay to Banff.
The residence also allows the quartet to develop plans for the next five years.
“When you are always performing it can be hard to develop a vision of where the group should go. This residence allows us to discuss our role and where we see ourselves on the provincial and national scene.”
Their third Mendelssohn performance this year at St. Peter's United Church will be Saturday, Dec. 5 at 8 p.m.
For more information, e-mail [email protected].
