Classical Quartet Dares to Go Mainstream

The classical music community increasingly has been striving to demystify what has become an overly-canonized and esoteric art form, and to make it as creative and mainstream as it was in the time of Mozart and Beethoven.

The Chiara String Quartet is one chamber group advocating for this new kind of classical music that is of interest to a greater audience. The quartet, which includes Jonah Sirota, Gregory Beaver, Julie Yoon, and Curtis Macomber (substituting for Rebecca Fischer), will present six free lunchtime concerts at Philosophy Hall next week, performing Mozart’s six “Haydn” quartets on Jan. 26, 27, 28, and Feb. 9, 10, and 11 at 12:30 p.m.

Trained and taught at the Juilliard School, the Chiara Quartet is an innovative group in many ways. They choose atypical venues for some of their concerts—performing in cafés, galleries, and clubs, as well as in concert halls. Violinist Yoon explained, “Some people wouldn’t feel so comfortable going to a concert hall, but they’re willing to go to these places to see us.”

Another important aspect of music-making for the Chiara is their interaction with the audience. The group frowns upon certain concert protocol, such as no clapping between movements and the traditional lack of communication between the musicians and audience members. Violist Sirota explained that the quartet members “try to take away from classical everything about the concert that has nothing to do with the music itself—such as the stiffness of it and performance traditions that don’t necessarily help a person to listen.”

Instead, Chiara gives their audiences flexibility during the concert, and they also make the music easier to digest by introducing themselves and the pieces. In order to create a more accessible program, the group might perform one movement rather than an entire piece, presenting classical music in bite-sized portions for new listeners.

The group also demonstrates their progressive attitude by frequently performing commissioned works from composers whose music has been influenced by different music styles—from rock to Andean folk tunes. Jefferson Friedman, one of the composers with whom they’ve collaborated, is a Columbia alum who will be featured in a concert on Feb. 12 at Miller Theatre.

The quartet has also collaborated with composer and longtime friend Gabriela Lena Frank on its latest album, Leyendas, an Andean Walkabout. “One of our interests is employing influences of music that are outside of classical and not just Western. This is a major thread in new music and it wasn’t 20 years ago,” Sirota said.

Working with composers on original pieces gives the members of the Chiara Quartet a chance to explore new music without preconceived notions. According to Yoon, “There’s no experience like bringing forth a piece of music that’s been written and getting to play it for the first time without any past interpretation of the music ... We’re forced to come up with it on our own.”

Although the quartet members are major proponents of contemporary music, they also see standard repertoire as having the potential to be fresh and exciting. Such is the case in next week’s performance of Mozart’s six “Haydn” quartets at Philosophy Hall. “We like to play them as if they’re new—it’s like the Core Curriculum, which forces you to connect things, go deeper, to understand what these important thinkers were struggling and grappling with. They seem like beautiful and light pieces but they aren’t—they are great intense pieces of art.”

With plans for new recordings and ideas for new venues, the Chiara Quartet is trying to acquire a distinctive identity, one that its audiences can claim to influence and share. . Until then, “We have to continue to do what we believe in— continue to play the best music out there the best way we can and communicate it to the audience the best way we can,” according to Yoon. So far, they’ve succeeded.