Meet Ulysses Quartet
Ulysses Quartet performs our Week Eight Program on August 15 & 17.
Tell us a little bit about how and when your quartet formed and any early mentors.
The seed of the quartet was actually planted at Kneisel Hall, where Tina played in a group with founding violist Colin Brookes, and Tina and Rhiannon also played together briefly in an emergency situation. It took a few years for the stars to align and for everyone to be in the same place, and in the intervening time Tina and Grace met at the Manhattan School of Music and became fast friends. Since we formed outside of school, our early mentors were mostly former teachers. We would play periodically for David Geber, Nicholas Mann, and Mark Steinberg, among others, and go to them for advice as we navigated the start of our career.
How has the quartet changed over the years, either through members and/or artistically?
There are a lot of things that have stayed constant artistically through the years, but I think the deepest change has been a discovery of greater flexibility and spontaneity. Where in the early days we had to plan musically quite a lot and polish and discuss our musical ideas, that has been replaced to a large extent by experimentation in the moment and musical dialogue without words. Peter joining the group last year brought a new sound and fresh perspective on repertoire, and his presence has been a joyful opportunity to incorporate a new unique personality into our blend.
Who were your most influential teachers?
When we were in our beginning stages, David Geber was incredibly generous with his time and wisdom, helping us navigate the process of putting together our sound and working foundation as a group, both practically and artistically. As we progressed in our journey, our time working with the Juilliard Quartet as part of our graduate string quartet residency there was invaluable. Every member had something truly unique to offer, which helped us on our way. The late Roger Tapping holds a special place in our heart and the things he taught us, either through his magically inspiring coachings or simply by being the vibrant, curious, kind, generous person and musician that he was, are very much things that we think about and strive to practice in our day to day work.
What do you wish audiences knew about life in a professional string quartet?
We hope they know even though we are exhausted from touring all over, we are always so excited to be sharing the best music in the world with them and we come alive from the audience’s energy! The more energy we feel, the more they get in return!
Have you ever had something dramatically unexpected happen that impacted a performance?
There was one day we were playing school shows in Boston and we were on our sixth show of the day! We were completely exhausted at this point and our last group of students was very small compared to the other shows. At first we were disappointed as we thought we wouldn’t be able to make as much of an impact on the kids. Were we ever wrong! Because of the small group, the team from GBH Music decided to bring them up to sit on stage with us. They were dancing in their seats and clapping along with the music. The connection we felt with them was incredibly strong and gave us incredible amounts of energy. It’s a moment we will never forget.
Does traveling positively or negatively affect your creativity?
Probably a little bit of both, but I think the net effect is positive. Sure, traveling takes time and energy, and sometimes we reach our destination feeling pretty exhausted. On the other hand, the opportunity to see a place we’ve never been and meet new people is very energizing and definitely enriches our creative outlook. The more experiences you have the more complex your artistic perspective is going to be, and that is something we can share with our audiences. Tina is a composer as well and finds a lot of inspiration from her travels
When traveling, does the quartet agree on restaurants and what are some favorite foods?
Generally speaking we do! Everyone in the group loves trying new foods and experiencing local cuisine. I would say it’s one of the big perks of traveling in our eyes that we get to eat our way around the world!
How do you balance your family life with the demands of your quartet “family”?
The balancing act of the quartet can be a delicate one sometimes. Each of us came into this line of work knowing that we would have to make some sacrifices, but it’s also important to us to keep our group and our lifestyle sustainable. We try to keep really open communication about our individual needs and be flexible as a group whenever possible to give everyone the time they need with their family. After all, they’re a little like our extended family as well!
Who in the group has the most unusual hobby or hobbies?
The most unusual hobby would be Rhiannon’s! She enjoys riding her motorcycle! We all enjoy hiking, reading, playing ping pong and games.
What is on the horizon for your group?
We are always cooking up new projects! We are just finishing recording the complete string quartets of Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn, so we will be releasing that cycle in the next season. Some residencies that we are very excited for will be announced soon as well as more touring in Europe, Asia, Latin America and right here in North America. It’s a beautiful life to share music with so many people across the globe.