BY JOSEPH ASQUITH, LEAD WRITER (EDUCATION)
The Orava Quartet is one of Australia’s most vibrant and exciting chamber music ensembles. As well as touring Australia, the quartet has performed in Canada, New Zealand, America, Hong Kong, Singapore, and The Philippines.
The musicians were also graduate quartet-in-residence at the University of Colorado, and selected to be part of the Juilliard String Quartet Seminar in New York.
And if that’s not enough, the group won the Musica Viva Australia Tony Berg Award for Most Outstanding Australian Ensemble at the 2013 Australian Pacific Chamber Music Competition in Melbourne.
Yes, these four string players are exciting indeed.
This year, Orava Quartet has had a busy schedule of concerts across Australia. We are thrilled that Orava cellist Karol Kowalik joins CutCommon to tell us about this week’s tour.
Thanks so much for joining us here at CutCommon! You’ve had a busy schedule of concerts this year – what was the most unexpectedly fun thing you got up to?
There are a whole host of things that happen when you’re in a quartet. Two of us have recently converted to using iPads for reading music. This was instigated by an incident that occurred whilst on stage at a festival. One of our members who will remain nameless – Dan – missed a page whilst taping up his music; resulting in a panicked dash off stage, scrambling to find the missing page of the second movement we were about to play. Luckily, it was quickly found and we resumed without any more issues!
But otherwise, we’ve had a lot of fun meeting audience members after performances, especially at festivals where people have seen us in more than one concert.
The program of this concert comprises Joseph Haydn’s String Quartet Op. 77, Erwin Schulhoff’s Five Pieces for String Quartet and Debussy’s String Quartet in G minor. What drew you to these works in particular?
We always jump at any opportunity to perform Haydn. The Op. 77 Lobkowitz is one quartet that we have adored for years, and thought it was finally time to share this work with audiences. It displays Haydn’s mastery of the string quartet form. Schulhoff’s Five Pieces for string quartet is a hidden gem. The work is based on five different types of dances and is rarely performed. It consists of a Viennese Waltz, Serenade, Czech dance, Tango, and Tarantella. They are all composed in Schulhoff’s fascinating and quirky language and are very accessible to audiences. Although relatively short, the power and emotional rollercoaster that the work conveys is astounding.
Finally, the Debussy quartet is one of the master works in the repertoire and marks the centenary of his death. To this day, we are fascinated by Debussy’s writing, use of texture, and jaw-dropping melodies.
We hope audiences love this program as much as we do!
You guys have had a worldly experience with your performance careers, across musical study and professional tours. As artists, what is so enriching about these overseas experiences?
Going to study and perform overseas has been very valuable to us. The exposure to different cultures, artists, and venues offers us great development in both our personal and artistic lives.
The other great benefit of overseas experiences is to gain perspective. This perspective has, and continues to, help us to develop into a group capable of performing on the world stage; and really allows us to appreciate how great it is to be based in Australia.
You have achieved great success in the art music scene. What place do you think art music holds in contemporary society?
A very significant place. Everybody listens to music and the range of music tastes is as diverse as the nations of the earth. Classical music continues to hold its own, and Australians have warmed to the idea that music lovers must support their musicians instead of relying on government funding to do so. Much the same as is in America.
What advice would you give to classical musicians who are wanting to make a career of chamber music?
The best advice we could give to aspiring chamber musicians would be to find like-minded people to make music with. Playing chamber music with friends can be a lot of fun and that should be your initial goal. The string quartet repertoire is so incredibly rich and varied that you will never run out of music to discover and explore, so enjoy that adventure with each new piece you study. It is a very difficult career path but can be extremely artistically rewarding.
Above all, be patient. String quartets take many years to find their voice!
Are there any upcoming projects of yours that we should be excited about?
Coming up this week we have our Czech Fantasy concerts at Melbourne Recital Centre this 25 October and Sydney Opera House on 26 October, then our return to Huntington Estate Music Festival next month.
We have a busy schedule of festivals and concert series around Australia coming up: we are Camerata’s 2019 artists-in-residence with concerts in Brisbane and Toowoomba, and we perform for the first time in venues like City Recital Hall Angel Place, UKARIA, Tasmanian Chamber Music Festival, and the Joan in Sydney (Penrith) with Greta Bradman.
It is always exciting for us to meet new audiences, as well as collaborating with new and old friends. We are also planning a North America tour for 2019.
Visit the Orava Quartet’s website to find out how to book concerts in your city.
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Read next from Joseph Asquith: The danger of elitism in music.
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