To spend time with the members of the Spokane String Quartet is to be witness to a very long, very comfortable relationship.
Members of the group — cellist Helen Byrne, second violinist Amanda Howard-Phillips, violist Jeannette Wee-Yang and first violinist Mateusz Wolski — enjoy laughing about shared memories and, truly, finish one another's sentences.
Byrne is the longest-serving member of the quartet, having joined in 2000. Wee-Yang and Wolski followed in 2004 and 2007, respectively, with Howard-Phillips joining in 2011.
According to Byrne's research, this lineup has performed together longer than any other in the quartet's 45-year history. The four also perform together as members of the Spokane Symphony.
Finding time to rehearse and perform around the packed symphony schedule can be difficult, but they make it work for the opportunity to play quartet music, which Wee-Yang says is "as good as it gets" for string players.
And while they enjoy being a small part of a larger group in the symphony, the four get an extra kick from their quartet work as it gives each member a louder voice, in all senses. With just four musicians on stage, everyone is front and center, and the quartet has more say over the interpretation of each piece when they don't have to default to a conductor.
There's also a big difference in how the audience, and the quartet itself, experiences the music.
"I feel like if you're listening to a symphony, it's like you're looking at a great painting, but from across the room," Howard-Phillips says. "But if you're listening to a string quartet, it's like you're looking at all the brush strokes and the blending, and you can see all the pieces that are put together and all the humanness. It's more that it was created by a human hand. There's that touch that's so personal."
The Spokane String Quartet was founded by former Spokane Symphony concertmaster Kelly Farris in 1979 as the quartet-in-residence at Eastern Washington University. Though that's no longer part of the group's work, they still find time to meet with EWU students through Howard-Phillips's position as a violin/viola lecturer.
Byrne says the longevity of the group is all thanks to the work Farris and former members put in, work that involved purchasing instruments, which Howard-Phillips and Wolski currently play, a board of directors, which all four musicians are part of, and hiring a marketing and development team.
Perhaps most importantly, Farris developed an endowment fund. Byrne says the first Spokane String Quartet concert she played earned her just $200 after 22 rehearsals. By the time Farris left the group, Wee-Yang says, he was able to tell the group to pay themselves what they were supposed to be paid.
"When you think about this, it's wonderful that some people have the foresight to set things up in a way that the quartet can last 45 years in spite of the members changing and thrive," Wolski said. "That is a huge legacy."
Since 1983, the Spokane String Quartet has been supported by the Spokane Chamber Music Association, and an anonymous donor has guaranteed that the group is able to perform a fifth concert each season.
"As far as I know, our situation is rather unique, being our own independent nonprofit, not being beholden to another larger organization," Howard-Phillips says. "We choose our programming. We set our schedule."
The group's next concert is Sunday, March 16, at the Bing Crosby Theater. The program features Polina Nazaykinskaya's Adagio for String Quartet, Franz Joseph Haydn's String Quartet in G minor, Op. 20, No. 3 (Hob. III:33) and Samuel Barber's Quartet in B minor, Op. 11.
The final concert of the season is set for May 18, also at the Bing, and features works by Caroline Shaw, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Johannes Brahms.
While the current members understand the gravity of a 45th anniversary, they can only truly reflect on their own time with the quartet. Playing together since 2011, the quartet says they've become better musicians over time as their friendship has strengthened.
"When you perform, in some ways, you're trying to open yourself to channel the music that somebody else wrote, and usually a long time ago," Wolski says. "The more open and comfortable you are with your colleagues, that happens naturally."
This camaraderie has made deciding on each season's programs a fairly smooth process. Howard-Phillips, for example, suggested the Nazaykinskaya piece because of her interest in performing works by living and underrepresented composers, while Wee-Yang suggested the Barber work because she's never performed it before.
"We have five concerts and three works on each one, so we usually can do everyone's [choices]," Wee-Yang says, with Wolski adding that things rarely turn into three-versus-one situations.
But differences of opinion are quickly handled, as the musicians all agree to try things both ways and see which works best. Usually the best choice quickly becomes apparent, so they're easily able to move on with rehearsal.
Just as they can disagree, they can also celebrate one another's wins. When one member nails something during a performance that has tripped them up through rehearsals, the others can cheer that colleague on in a way that's imperceptible to the audience but felt onstage.
It goes back to the fact that, at its core, the Spokane String Quartet is not just a group of musicians but also a group of friends. They're quick to praise one another when asked how their time together has changed them as musicians.
"If I had to pay Mateusz for everything he's taught me about playing a string instrument, I'd be bankrupt," Byrne says.
"I really think that nobody constructs a musical phrase with more care and beauty than Helen Byrne," Howard-Phillips adds. "And the way Jeanette plays with absolute fearlessness."
After 45 years, the Spokane String Quartet is in good hands with Byrne, Howard-Phillips, Wee-Yang and Wolski. Their friendship, and love of chamber music, is a solid foundation for the future of the group, and they invite one and all to experience a concert, no matter their knowledge of chamber music.
"I really personally believe that there's no right way to interpret music," Howard-Phillips says. "If it makes you feel anxious, but it makes me feel happy, or if I love this piece, and he doesn't get anything from it, there's no right or wrong. The people that are like 'Oh, well, I don't know anything about classical music.' I don't think you need to know. You just need to open your mind and feel what it feels."♦
Spokane String Quartet • Sun, March 16 at 3 pm • $20-$25 • All ages • Bing Crosby Theater • 901 W. Sprague Ave. • bingcrosbytheater.com
