October 24, 2002 Feature
Story
Fry
Street Quartet Joins Utah State Department of Music
 Isaac
Stern, Sweet Briar College and Utah State University. The common
denominator? The Fry Street Quartet, the newly appointed professional
string quartet in residence in the Department of Music at Utah
State University in Logan.
The Fry Street Quartet joined the faculty at Utah State this
fall. Members include Jessica Guideri, first violin; Rebecca
McFaul, second violin; Russell Fallstad, viola; and Anne Francis,
cello. The group was mentored during its early development by
the late Isaac Stern, who invited the quartet to make its Carnegie
Hall debut in Weill Recital Hall in November 2001.
And now, the quartet was honored to receive an invitation by
Linda Reynolds Stern to perform at a tribute concert for her
late husband at Sweet Briar College in Virginia. The event honored
the late violin virtuoso with a doctor of fine arts degree —
only the third ever to be presented by the college.
The ceremony was held Sept. 30, and following the presentation,
the Fry Street Quartet performed the Josef Haydn “Quartet,
Op. 76, No. 5.” The quartet was then joined by Sweet Briar’s
Rebecca McNutt on piano for Robert Schumann’s “Piano
Quintet in E-Flat Major.”
Sweet Briar honored Stern for his more than 60 years as a professional
musician, during which time he appeared on the world’s
most prestigious concert stages, devoted himself to the advancement
of the arts nationally and internationally and guided the careers
of countless young musicians.
Founded in 1997, the Fry Street Quartet received early encouragement
from Stern, who invited the quartet to chamber music seminars
at the Jerusalem Music Center and Carnegie Hall.
“The Fry Street Quartet had the great fortune of studying
at two of Mr. Sterns’s chamber music workshops,”
said quartet member McFaul. “His mission was always to
guide the students to find their own artistry, and he did so
brilliantly. He would always be asking questions leading the
students to their own meaning in the music and ability to execute
that meaning. His intolerance of meaningless or careless playing
was also an inspiring example. I don’t think there is
a rehearsal where his wisdom doesn’t come into play.”
Following its Carnegie Hall debut, the quartet was sponsored
in 2002 by Carnegie Hall and the U.S. Department of State on
a concert tour throughout Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Republic of
Yugoslavia and Slovenia as ambassadors of the Carnegie Hall
Fellow Program.
It is with this impressive background that the Fry Street Quartet
is welcomed into the faculty ranks at Utah State University.
It joins a program that earlier included a multiple-year residency
by the Arcata String Quartet.
“The Arcata String Quartet did an outstanding job of establishing
new string programming for our department including more rigorous
standards of performance for our string majors,” said
music Department Head Bruce Saperston. “After four years
on our campus the Arcata members decided to pursue individual
careers in teaching and performing and all have accepted excellent
positions elsewhere. We are very excited to have the Fry Street
Quartet to continue the fine work of their predecessors and
to develop their own program ideas.”
The string quartet residency program would not have been possible
without the support of the Marie Eccles Caine Foudation, Saperston
continued. During the past four years the program has been supported
by the Marie Eccles Caine Foundation, the College of Humanities,
Arts and Social Sciences and the Department of Music. Beginning
next year, the university will fund a substantial portion of
the program, recognizing the importance the program plays in
academic and cultural programs at Utah State and in the community.
Saperston said the resident string quartet program has a major
impact on music majors and all university students.
“Our string instruction has been elevated to a level normally
expected in conservatory programs and, as a result, we are attracting
more talented students who are now winning graduate scholarships
in the country’s most prestigous schools,” Saperston
said. “The cultural life of the university and the northern
Utah community has been greatly enhanced by the quartet’s
performances. The performance of the USU Symphony Orchestra
has improved in recent years thanks to the residency program
and our new conductor, Sergio Bernal.”
Classroom benefits spread beyond the Music Department as well,
Saperston continued. Students in the university studies general
education course benefit from guest lectures by quartet members.
Teaching and performance have equal importance in the string
quartet residency program, Saperston concluded.
In addition to private instruction, students will be guided
by the quartet’s members in various coaching sessions
and in sectional work with the USU Symphony Orchestra. Students
and community members alike will be able to hear the quartet
in concert at various times throughout the year as well.
Contact: Bruce Saperston (435) 797-3036
Writer: Patrick Williams (435) 797-1354
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