A performance in Turner Valley on Saturday by four musicians who have dedicated their lives to classical music will be like an intimate conversation.

Ucalgary String Quartet, from left, Edmond Agopian, Brinna Brinkerhoff, Beth Root Sandvoss and Dean O'Brien will perform Saturday in Turner Valley as part of the Beneath the Arch concert series.

The Beneath the Arch Concert Series presents UCalgary String Quartet at the Flare ‘n’ Derrick Community Hall in what promises to be a unique musical experience.

“Some of the best classical music was written for a string quartet,” said Edmond Agopian, a member of the UCalgary String Quartet. “Composers felt that a string quartet combines the intimacy of one person playing with the presentation and power of a larger ensemble.

“Composers thought of it almost as a dialogue. So the string quartet music is almost like a conversation between four people.”

A rehearsed conversation the UCalgary String Quartet has had many times. The quartet performs concerts nationally and internationally and all four musicians are deeply immersed in other classical music projects. Each member teaches at the university and plays with other ensembles.

On Saturday the will UCalgary String Quartet will include: second violinist Diane Lane, who is substituting for regular member Brinna Brinkerhoff while she is on tour with another ensemble, but also performs with the Players Chamber Ensemble; cellist Beth Root Sandvoss, who also plays with Land’s End Chamber Ensemble; viola player Dean O’Brien, who is the principle viola with the Red Deer Symphony; and Agopian, who has conducted the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra and performed as a soloist in the philharmonic

Their rigourous approach to interpreting the music for themselves, students and audiences, brings new energy to each performance, Agopian said. The classical music may be a conversation they have had before, but in the mood of the moment they can surprise even each other.

“Just as if an actor can surprise another actor with his delivery,” said Agopian. “And just like a movie where the dialogue is scripted, the music is similar. You know what the notes are, but you don’t know how they’re going to be placed in that moment in time.”

The first half of their show on Saturday will feature classical music and, in particular, pieces by Austrian composer Josef Haydn in honour of the 200^th anniversary of his death in 2009. In the second half of the concert the audience will be treated to songs not normally performed by a quartet: European folk songs from their 2008 album, “Far Behind I Left My Country.”

“It’s arrangements of folk music from Hungary, Romania, Ukraine and Jewish music otherwise known as klezmer music. That’s fun, folk-based music,” said Agopian. “String quartet music is quintessential classical music ensemble and to turn it into folk music ensemble, that’s breaking new ground.”

Agopian arranged the music to be played by the string quartet to combine the two musical elements in his life — classical music and music from his homeland.

“I’m originally from Romania and I used to play in a lot of Romanian gypsy bands when I lived there. So that music is close to my heart,” said Agopian.

UCalgary String Quartet will play a concert at the Flare ‘n’ Derrick Community Hall on Saturday, Jan. 30. Doors open at 7 p.m. and the show will begin at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $25 for adults, $10 for children six to 12 and free for children under six years old.

For more information go to www.beneaththearch.org or call 403-933-7040.

tneely@okotoks.greatwest.ca

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