Rising quartet creates lasting memories with Arizona debut in Tucson (2024)

Arizona Friends of Chamber Music has a knack for bringing artists to Tucson at the beginnings of their career, when their name recognition might not ring any bells locally and is just starting to blip on the larger national stage.

After winning the 2022 Banff International String Quartet Competition and landing a 2023 Avery Fisher Career Grant — two very prestigious honors in the chamber music world — the 4-year-old ensemble’s name is slipping on the tongues of many presenters and critics in big cities including Chicago, Los Angeles and its home base of New York.

After their performance at Leo Rich Theater before an audience that nearly filled the 500-seat hall, their name is surely to resonate with chamber music fans here, as well.

Some might mention them one day in a conversation that recalls other famous musicians that they saw early in their careers, none more famous, arguably, than the Chinese piano great Lang Lang. Tucson was just his fourth ever American concert when he appeared here as an 18-year-old, he recalled years later when he made his debut with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra.

When they recount that first time with the Isidore, they might remember how violinist Adrian Steele, sitting in the first chair, teased out the humor in the opening movement of Haydn’s String Quartet No. 25 in C major, prompting an equally engaging response from violist Devin Moore.

Some might also mention the soulful tone of Joshua McClendon’s cello as he added the mournful phrases to Steele’s nearly operatic violin that segued into a pretty impressive interplay between Steele and second violin Phoenix Avalon.

They might not remember everything Moore said when he introduced the concert’s centerpiece, Billy Child’s emotional rollercoaster String Quartet No. 2 “Awakening,” but they may remember how Moore rolled up his sleeves before he struck that first terrifying note and how that sound, trembling and shattering, had some in the audience reaching out to touch the loved one next to them.

And they won’t forget the group’s sublime performance of the famously gorgeous third movement of Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 15 in A minor, which Beethoven called his “Sacred Song of Thanksgiving” for bringing him through a series of debilitating diseases. The foursome, recent graduates of Juilliard, brought a solemn clarity to the prayerful opening passage that they balanced with a sudden burst of controlled energy when the quiet was interrupted by a pair of faster movements. With perfect tonality, precision and a unshakeable concentration, the melodic frenzy they created felt like Beethoven had suddenly awoken from his nightmare.

That sense of awakening was the predominant theme of the night, anchored by Child’s Quartet No. 2.

Wednesday was the first time we’ve heard Child’s “Awakening” performed on a Tucson stage, and after experiencing the Isidore String Quartet, any other rendition might fall flat.

The quartet brought out the raw emotions and nervous uncertainty in the opening “Wake Up Call” movement when Childs learned that his wife had suffered a pulmonary embolism. The low moans from the viola and cello countered the higher-pitched screams of the frenzied violins and took us to the center of Childs’ mindset in that moment.

Even though they were at times playing at a near breakneck speed, the four musicians remained focused and unnerved, bringing out the sheer terror of Childs’ nightmare of getting to the hospital to be with his wife.

We’re thrust into the anxiety and sheer sense of powerlessness in second movement “The White Room,” as the musicians lead us on a sonic journey of shifting tempos and mood changes including frustration and eventual helplessness, until we get to the “Song of Healing” finale. The Isidore brought out a sense of calm knowing that Childs’ wife will be OK, that’s interrupted with flashes of doubt and guilt about where the relationship will end up after such a traumatic experience.

The performance earned the quartet a well-deserved standing ovation and no doubt an open invitation to come back.