Elm City String Quartet have three shows coming up

The Elm City String Quartet is stepping into the new year with a well-rounded set of concerts on February 4, 10, & 11.

The classical and timeless Mozart, the deep emotiveness of Barber, and the richness of Imogen Holst make Elm City String Quartet’s upcoming performances a great “something for everyone” series. The Elm City String Quartet is just past the midway point of their first full season of programming, returning after a successful pair of candlelit holiday concerts in Fredericton and Saint John that raised over $700 for the Fredericton & Saint John Community Foundations.

The quartet’s upcoming concert series will feature music by Mozart, Barber, and Imogen Holst. Mozart’s 21st quartet, nicknamed the “Prussian” quartet, was composed to impress the King of Prussia (who was in fact a cellist) and is full of joy, whimsy, and light. Imogen Holst’s Phantasy Quartet is short, but full of expansiveness and swimming colors. The concerts will conclude with Samuel Barber’s string quartet, famous for its heart-wrenching and minimal Adagio movement. “The Barber Adagio is famous. We’ve played it in orchestra settings, but we’ve never had the chance to tackle the whole quartet. It’s really an incredible piece,” says Victor Vivas, violinist.

The Elm City String Quartet is based in Fredericton, NB, and held their first concert in December of 2019. Since then, they have performed a wide array of repertoire with shows in Fredericton, Moncton, and Saint John. “We’re always searching for new music that resonates with us,” said cellist Emily Kennedy. “The Imogen Holst Fantasy is a fairly unknown work, written by a woman in the mid-20th century, which at the time was almost unheard of. It’s beautiful music – it sounds as if Debussy took a vacation in the English countryside – and it deserves to be heard and played. I’m glad we can share it with people.”