Borealis opens chamber music season Thursday

Whether performing as an ensemble or as soloists, the members of the Borealis String Quartet possess musical intuition and wisdom beyond their years.

The Borealis String Quartet came together at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, B.C., eight years ago, attracting an audience of more than 1,000 at its debut performance.

It soon began to sell out concert halls in every Canadian province.

“They immediately became popular all around Canada,” said John Zion, booking agent with Melvin Kaplan Inc., management company for the Borealis String Quartet.

The Borealis String Quartet will open the Auburn Chamber Music Society’s 2008-2009 season with a performance at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in Goodwin Hall on the Auburn University campus.

The Canadian-based group has been wowing international audiences for years.

Following a performance in Taiwan in 2006, the ensemble was honored with a sponsorship from the Chi Mei Culture Foundation that allows them to use classic Italian instruments made in the 17th and 18th centuries.

“They were the first foreign group to ever receive instruments,” Zion said, adding, “The instruments are so valuable, they wouldn’t be able to play on them otherwise.”

Only one member of the Borealis String Quartet — second violinist Yuel Yawney — is a Canadian native. The other members hail from other countries around the globe.

First violinist Patricia Shih, who made her Carnegie Hall debut at age 15, is from the United States. Viola player Nikita Pogrebnoy is a native of St. Petersburg, Russia.

Cello player Shi-Lin Chen, who has been coached by contemporary musical greats such as Yo-Yo Ma, is from Taiwan.

Each of the string quartet’s members have also studied and performed internationally as soloists or orchestra members.

The Auburn program will feature three pieces that showcase the Borealis String Quartet’s dramatic style — “Quartet No. 6 in F minor, Opus 80” by Felix Mendelssohn, “Quartettsatz” by Franz Schubert and “Quartet in G minor, Opus 27” by Edvard Grieg.

The Mendolssohn piece was written shortly after the composer’s sister died. The work “shows a dramatic, raw emotional side” of the composer, who is better known for creating elegant, refined pieces, Zion said.

Schubert’s “Quartettsatz” is actually the first movement of an unfinished piece by the composer. The work was the first chamber music for a professional group composed by Schubert, who went on to complete the famous string quartet pieces “Death and the Maiden” and “Rosamunde.”

The Borealis String Quartet will finish the program with the Grieg piece. The rarely heard piece features four-note double stops that require more than one string to be played at a time.

“It’s a unique sound,” Zion said, describing the four-note double stops. “It sounds like an orchestra rather than an instrumental group.”

The piece is also performed by the quartet as a way to expose more audiences to the lesser known composer’s work.

“They really love playing it, especially for people who have never heard it,” Zion said.

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