Left to right: Joanna Mendoza, John McGrosso, Jane Price, Kurt Baldwin
COURTESY | Kurt Baldwin
The Arianna String Quartet will perform in Markel Auditorium Saturday, Feb. 15, at 8:00 p.m. Tickets must be reserved at either boxoffice@hillsdale.edu or calling the number 517-607-2848.
The quartet will also be teaching a master class Friday night with students from the music department.
Composed of members John McGrosso and Jane Price on the violin, Joanna Mendoza on the viola, and Kurt Baldwin on the cello, the quartet has performed across the globe and has built a reputation for a formidable level of mastery in performance.
Artist-teacher of Collaborative Piano Daniel Kuehler will join the group for the second half of the show.
“It is a dream come true,” Kuehler said. “I looked up to them as mentors.”
A ’14 graduate of University of Missouri-St. Louis, Kuehler has known the Arianna Quartet since he began college in 2010.
“We had a small music department, but it was a very familial atmosphere,” Kuehler said. “I knew anytime they would hear me perform they would just be so supportive. It was wonderful.”
The quartet members were just as impressed with Kuehler, noting his humor, humility, and dedication.
“We aren’t surprised that we are colleagues now,” Baldwin said.
Although the quartet and Kuehler were not in close contact after Kuehler’s graduation, little had changed when they met at the Steinway Extravaganza Concert hosted by the college in 2023. It was there that Kuehler pitched the idea to them to come play at Hillsdale.
“This has always been a dream of mine to play with them, ever since I was an undergrad,” Kuehler said. “They are musicians of the highest caliber, and I know that I’ll grow a lot from this performance.”
The first half of the program will consist of two string quartets, one composed by Haydn and another by Shostakovich. The second half will be solely filled by Cesar Franck’s “Piano Quartet in F Minor, Op 10,” featuring Kuehler.
The first piece by Haydn will be a start both literally and metaphorically. As inventor of the quartet, he would inspire Shostakovich centuries later. This quartet was one of Haydn’s most famous.
“It’s nice, light, elegant, and witty,” Kuehler said. “Haydn was a jokester, so there’s a lot of humor.”
Dimitri Shostakovich’s “String Quartet No. 8 in C Minor” will provide a sharp contrast to this.
“It is dedicated to the victims of fascism coming out of the Stalin period in Russia,” Baldwin said. “The whole piece and what that movement is about is like humanity coming apart at its seams.”
Kuehler described it a little differently, calling it classical rock and roll for the speed and intensity of the string parts.
“They are shredding,” he said.
The final piece by Franck will be the grand finale.
“It keeps you on the edge of your seat,” Kuehler said. “It is some of the most psychologically terrorizing music. It is a real thrill.”
Despite only playing for the second half, Kuehler will have his work cut out for him.
“He’ll be playing more notes Saturday night than I will play,” Baldwin said.
Despite the challenge, the performers are looking forward to sharing the pieces with the audience.
Baldwin said he hopes people will come to be enriched by the thrill of the concert.
“The power of music is one of those irrepressible things that has to be experienced live.”
