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Taking its inspiration from the exquisite rugged natural beauty of the
Pacific Northwest, the Saint Helens String
Quartet embraces a sense of musical adventure, exploring an often
uncharted sonic territory in which contemporary classical music
intersects with genres including jazz, pop, rock, folk and world music.
The result: A listening experience of exquisite beauty. Like the
world-renowned Kronos Quartet, the Saint Helens String Quartet brings
classical training to a dynamic, cutting-edge sensibility, creating
music that extends the boundaries of the ear and defines a truly
American sound. Called the "Saint Helens adventurous four" by the Seattle
Weekly, the group makes a practice of commissioning and performing works by local
composers, including Laura Kaminsky and Ken Benshoof, which the Saint
Helens String Quartet premiered at Seattle's Benaroya Hall. At Cornish
College of the Arts, also in Seattle, the quartet recently served a
four-year appointment as Thelma Lehmann Ensemble in Residence,
performing at Cornish and working with composition students who were
writing for the string quartet. A recipient of two grants from Seattle's
4Culture, the Saint Helens String Quartet can be heard frequently on
KUOW's "The Beat" with Dave Beck. In November of 2004, the quartet
recorded New York composer Joe Diebes' "Phantom String Quartet #2",
which appeared as an audio art installation at the Jack Straw New Media
Gallery in Seattle. The quartet regularly plays works of such composers
as Jovino Santos Neto, Shostakovich, Schnittke, Ken Benshoof, Hendrix,
Schickele, Thomas Oboe Lee, Janice Giteck, John Cage, Arvo Part, Aulis
Salinas, the Beatles, Philip Glass, Gorecki, and Herbolsheimer.
Currently in development: A new music-theatre piece based on Czech composer
Erwin Schulhoff's 2nd String Quartet and inspired by the composer's life, a concert featuring
John Adam's "Gnarly Buttons" for the Seattle Symphony's "Made in America
Festival" May 20, George Crumb's "Dream Sequence" at Cornish College of the
Arts on April 7th, and
Jennifer Higdon's String Quartet, "Southern Harmony".
To book the SHSQ please contact Paige Stockley Lerner at
paige@speakeasy.org
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