A Holiday for Strings

Monday, 10. 6. 2008

by BRIAN WISE — Time Out New York — January 4, 2007

A string quartet walks into a bar… It might sound like the setup for a bad joke, but it’s a reality for a pair of young quartets taking the stage in New York this month. The Chiara String Quartet, after more than five years of playing at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, will be devoting a significant part of its 2007 schedule performing in bars and clubs that normally feature folk, bluegrass and experimental music. And the Parker String Quartet—whose members are graduate students at Boston’s New England Conservatory—recently rented a van and toured nightclubs up and down the East Coast. This summer it will begin a residency at Park Slope club Barbès.

Most quartets measure success one plush concert hall at a time; a club is a one-off novelty at best. But both the Chiara and the Parker contend that permitting listeners to relax with a beer or cocktail can attract people in their twenties and thirties, who might find traditional venues alienating. “This gives us a chance to reach audiences our age who might like classical music, but find the experience of going to hear it unfamiliar,” says Karen Kim, a violinist in the Parker Quartet, which will play a more conventional booking at the Walter Reade Theater January 28. “Many people our age aren’t used to the formality of the concert hall, and they can’t always afford the ticket prices.”

Although members of both quartets report that the crowds at bars are on average half the age of traditional concertgoers, such venues are also foreign territory for classical music. Acoustics in even the most music-friendly clubs aren’t always accommodating, forcing the groups to use amplification. Few bars pay as well as traditional concert halls, and luxuries such as a dressing room are often nonexistent. But both the Chiara and Parker are eager to adapt to the atmosphere, and typically adjust their programming to suit the space.

Both groups are surprised by what pieces work in a bar. Quiet, delicate works are generally avoided, but modernist fare can do well. The Parker often plays the third of Webern’s Five Movements, a short, bristling 12-tone work, while the Chiara has found success with the middle movement of Bartok’s thorny String Quartet No. 2. The quartets will also craft set lists on the day of a performance—a practice unheard of in traditional halls, which send out brochures advertising their programs months in advance.

The idea of breaking through to alternative audiences has even affected the way these quartets market themselves. The Chiara recently launched a page on MySpace.com featuring audio clips and tour updates, and now mans a merchandise table at concerts. Meanwhile, the Parker regularly shares double bills with pop acts to divide costs and maximize exposure. Last fall, the quartet toured with Wynn Walent, a local singer-songwriter; this winter it has appeared with the Boston Afrobeat Society.

Both ensembles acknowledge that even in the most flexible nightspot, things can go awry. Parker Quartet violinist Daniel Chong recalls the time a tipsy patron knocked over his music stand during a Mozart quartet. Still, he notes, club audiences are surprisingly attentive. “Even if the bar’s really rowdy when we first walk in,” he says, “it is amazing how quiet it can get, and how intently people are listening.”