Do you have your tickets yet for the hottest heavy metal concert of the season? VSO bad boy Matt LaRocca has assembled the formidable foursome, the Jukebox Quartet, for another go-around of rock-inspired musical entertainment. Who said classical music wasn’t kick ass? Well, it is, and if you find yourself in downtown Rutland on Friday, April 4, or in White River Junction (the cool kids say WRJ) on Sunday, April 6, you’ll understand just how similar rock and classical can be. Why do you think they call it “classic rock?”
Who has the audacity to compare Shostakovich and Mendelssohn with the likes of Led Zeppelin, Van Halen, and Tool? LaRocca and company, that’s who. It’s all in the grand design to kick up the jams, unplug the instruments, and bring the immediacy of a powerhouse four-person-unit of kinetic musical prowess to the eyes and ears of an audience who deserves nothing less than to hear the familiar mixed up in a totally fantastic and unique way.
Meet the musical Avengers
On the viola is Stefanie Taylor. She may have got a hankering for the instrument hearing a local cellist playing Bach on viola in a Rutland church at age 4 but make no mistake—this virtuoso is ready to bring a little heavy-duty rock to the world of chamber music.
John Dunlop on cello. He’s lean and mean with a bow in his hand, and he’ll be ready to mix it up proper come showtime.
Bulgarian-born Joana Genova is one of two violinists that anchor the Jukebox quartet. Prepare yourselves for the intensity, excitement, and action as she puts her hands and fingers through the ringer to pull those heavy metal sounds out of that unassuming wooden puzzle box we call the violin.
Who’s the other violinist? Why, it’s none other than Brooke Quiggins-Saulnier, or as she is otherwise known, “the sassy fun one.” Who says playing classical music has to be all furrowed brows of serious intensity? Not Quiggins-Saulnier. If it ain’t going to be sassy and it ain’t going to be fun, it ain’t worth doing. So, if you plan on seeing the Jukebox Quartet in action for this “Heavy Metal Strings” performance, prepare for sass and fun. These four know their stuff but aren’t shy about smiling and having a great time.
What can people expect at the show?
When people come to a Jukebox Quartet performance, it’s different from the typical orchestral concert experience. The evening is akin to backstage passes for audiences attending the Paramount Theatre show in Rutland. You’ll be on stage with the performers, mere feet away. It’s an opportunity to absorb the music at an entirely different level. You’ll see musicians working their instruments so close that you can feel every note as you watch it unfold visually.
For Quiggins-Saulnier, this environment is one of her favorite ways to perform.
“When the audience is onstage with us, we feel the audience is experiencing something for the very first time, and feeds the energy we bring into the music,” Quiggins-Saulnier said. “Feeding off that energy makes us play differently. It feels like we’re putting on a concert in one of our living rooms. One of the things that bring us joy is recreating that chamber music atmosphere. It’s the excitement of what happens next. Nobody knows, and that’s a thrill.”
When the Jukebox Quartet performs at the Northern Stage in WRJ, the audience won’t be on stage with the musicians, but the theater’s design (an intimate seating arrangement that surrounds most of the stage) provides an intimacy that is a perfect environment to enjoy this mini-concert. Sunday’s event will be Quiggins-Saulnier’s first time performing at the Northern Stage, where she and the quartet will be doing double duty with a morning performance as the Juicebox Quartet and then that afternoon’s performance as the Jukebox. The Juicebox is another VSO series that introduces younger audiences to the magic of classical music. Plus, for the kids, there are juice boxes.
Preparing for two rigorous and different performances so close together is no small feat. Quiggins-Saulnier said she juggles a full-time position as director of operations at MKI Artists while performing at over 100 music events (some private, some with the VSO and other affiliates) a year. She’ll spend two hours a day of personal practice in the weeks leading up to a Jukebox show.
“Then we have four rehearsals as a quartet,” Quiggins-Saulnier said. “It’s hard to find common time with travel, etc., to rehearse together.”
Scheduling these practice sessions is done months in advance, and when the four do get together, practice is more about fine-tuning and refining the performance than learning the material. They are expected to know their pieces prior to rehearsal, and Quiggins-Saulnier said the rehearsals should feel like a “day of” performance. “It’s a bit like putting together a Tetris puzzle trying to make all the pieces fit together.”
As for the performance itself, Quiggins-Saulnier didn’t want to give away all the surprises in store for audiences, but she did mention that they will open with Led Zeppelin’s “Cashmere,” and she will have a special solo that harks back to a previous rock-inspired Jukebox show. Quiggins-Saulnier will go electric with a plugged-in violin for a solo that includes various guitar pedals. If you’re looking for sassy fun, prepare to watch Quiggins-Saulnier shred on some Eddie Van Halen-inspired licks. To prepare, Quiggins-Saulnier said that LaRocca was going to be stopping by her house to drop off the pedal board. Playing the solo doesn’t worry Quiggins-Saulnier, but pressing the wrong pedal does.
The Jukebox Quartet presents “Heavy Metal Strings” on Friday, April 4, at the Paramount Theatre in Rutland at 7 p.m. and on Sunday, April 6, at 2 p.m. Turn the dial up to 11 and prepare to rock in classic style.
For tickets, go to: paramountvt.org or northernstage.org.
