Music lovers can look forward to Chesapeake Music’s upcoming Interlude Concert featuring the multi-award-winning Isidore String Quartet at the Ebenezer Theater on October 5. Members of the quartet are violinists Adrian Steele and Phoenix Avalon, violist Devin Moore, and cellist, Joshua McClendon.
I spoke with Phoenix Avalon who began playing violin when he was three years old, has studied under acclaimed violinists Itzhak Perlman and Li Lin, and has won numerous competitions, most recently receiving first place at the Louis Sophr International Violin Competition.
How long has the Isidore Quartet been together?
We’ve been together since 2019. Our teachers at Juilliard recognized that there was something special happening when we played together – a specific kind of magic that just felt right. They encouraged us to make our quartet official. Now we have spent so much time playing together that we can almost intuitively sense each other’s movements.
Why did you select this specific program for the concert in Easton?
It’s an interesting program that an audience can relate to. The program exemplifies the foundation of the Quartet. Mozart’s String Quartet No.19 in C major, known as the “Dissonance” Quartet, at the time was super revolutionary—super weird. The opening is groundbreaking and launches a certain trajectory of sound. It helped pave the way for the possibilities of what a quartet can be. Bartok was the first to bring forward his own unique sense of Hungarian folk. In the Bartok String Quartet No. 2, he explores what you can do with rhythm and texture and bridges a gap between very folksy rhythms and very romantic overplay. It is quite sad but there is also some hope in it. The Ravel String Quartet in F major defines the French sound for a string quartet. He uses different sound waves, different colors, and different rhythms. It’s something that didn’t exist in any other quartet.
Are these three quartets forerunners to other symphonies or concertos?
It is not a clear linear line, but you can definitely see inspiration. You can see that composers who came after them were inspired by these quartets. Remember that the quartet is the medium where composers delve the deepest into their own souls. It’s so intimate. It’s so complicated. But it can also be so simple. You can see what is in the composer’s heart.
What do you want your audience to consider when they listen to your quartet?
We are really trying to tell a story. There is no need to have a deep expertise in various chords. We want to present it in a way that makes our audience think about something, and our goal as performers is to convey some kind of emotion.
You started playing the violin when you were three. How has your playing evolved?
It becomes part of you as a person. It’s a natural thing. It’s a way of exploring yourself, your own personality, your own issues, and your strengths. It’s almost a meditative process.
Has the quartet been to Easton before?
We haven’t been to Easton before. A very close mentor of mine is Catherine Cho, Artistic Director of Chesapeake Music. I am thrilled to see her in Easton. I hope our audience will have as much fun as we hope to have in Easton.
Tickets for the Isidore Quartet performance on October 5, at Easton’s Ebenezer Theater are $50. Chesapeake Music also offers free tickets for students and music educators, as well as a “buy-one-get-one” option for those who are new to Chesapeake Music and want to bring a friend. To purchase tickets, visit ChesapeakeMusic.org, and to learn more about the quartet, visit isidorestringquartet.com.
by Maria Grant
