Fellows Quartet concerts report

The Fellows Quartet of CMW had an exciting month of March. We (Aaron, Ariana, Carole and Robin) had prepared string quartet music by Brahms and Shostakovich, and were ready for the concerts planned through out the month.

During the first weekend in March, there were two concerts planned. The first was a house concert in Amherst, MA, at the home of a former board member and long-time supporter CMW. After a hilarious carpool adventure full of wrong turns and twisting roads, we arrived in Amherst and were greeted by our friendly hosts. The first concert was a huge success–the audience was full and very receptive to us and to the music. Thanks again to Rick and Janet for hosting such a marvelous event!

The next day, we made our way to Cambridge, MA. Ariana is a past Fulbright Scholar, and she arranged for us to perform on the program of the yearly concert that is organized by the Fulbright Scholar Program. It was a great opportunity for the four of us to meet international musicians and have conversations about the work that CMW does. 

The next set of concerts was even more unique. We had concocted a special series of concerts in the city of Providence to take our music to unexpected locations around the city and share it with new audiences. We played Brahms in the Knight Memorial Library, where a lot of ears perked up at the surprising sounds of live music. We trekked out to T.F. Green airport and performed for the passengers of incoming flights.

We also brought snippets of a Haydn string quartet to The Carriage House’s weekly Friday Night Live event.  The students and families who were attending the stand up comedy show weren’t expecting a string quartet to come rushing in with stands, stools, and instruments at the end of the standard routine to play a tango and some Haydn. When we finished playing, the audience erupted into thunderous applause and exuberant cheering.

All of these short concerts happened right before another weekend of full length performances. On a sunny Saturday morning, Ariana and I joined other CMW staff and friends to run the St. Pat’s 5K, an annual event that CMW participates in to raise money for the CMW summer camp. When the race was finished, we rushed to transform from 5K Champions to Quartet Musicians for a house concert later in the afternoon. 

The house concert took place in the loft of a CMW board member, a beautiful space that is perfect for concerts. The audience was full of friends and new faces, and at the end of the day, we were happy with our great performance and with the great conversations we had been part of during the reception. Thanks, Ron and Heather, for making this possible! I hope that there will be many more memorable concerts that take place in your home!

More photos by Jori in CMW's Flickr account.

The last concert we had organized for the month of March took place at The Carriage House, also known as Everett Dance Theatre. We were delighted to see new faces in our audience–people we had met at the airport and at Friday Night Live a few days earlier had come to hear our full length concert!

These concerts around town were all strategically planned to spark an interest in people who you may not find at a Classical music concert. We wanted to bring the music we love in a way that is accessible to people everywhere, whether they were in an airport, a library, or a comedy show. We planned our repertoire carefully for each performance opportunity, mixing Brahms and Shostakovich with tango-inspired pieces. When we had the chance to introduce the music, Aaron wittily used food and cooking metaphors to relate the different courses of a fancy dinner to the different pieces in a concert. Audiences chuckled, and when the concerts were over, someone inevitably came up to us to compliment us on our creativity in presentation because the metaphor had actually helped them understand the concert structure and the music better. 

When the month of March came to a close, we were happy with the work we had accomplished. We had put together a great series of concerts and attracted audience new audience members. We had tackled difficult repertoire and successfully thought about different ways to think and talk about music. Next time we plan something like this, all we need is a CMW tour bus to take us around town!

Thanks to all who came out and supported us with cheering and smiles!

-Carole Bestvater, Fellow