On Tuesday September 25th, I attended the

Sybarite5

concert in Rudder Forum. It is a string quintet of 3 violins, cello and bass. The playbill of the show quoted the Arizona Daily Star that ensures “an experience that will satisfy your inner rock star and your secret Mozart”.

Right after the appearance of Sarah Whitney onstage, one of three violinists, announced that being a hardcore Radiohead fans, the musicians would present the covers of Radiohead. However,

Sybarite5

began with a heartening “Grove Machine” written by Marc Mellits. Next, “Weird fishes” in Paul Kim arrangements was played for all 12 Radiohead fans present in the Forum. Moving further with more elaborated playing techniques, the string quintet impressed the audience with pieces of contemporary composers from all over the world such as Kenji Bunch, Shawn Conley, Jessica Meyer and Aleksandra Vrebalov. The climax of the concert was arranged by skillfully performed “Escualo” - Argentinian Tango, picked up by Astor Piazzolla, in arrangements made by Bragato and muscisians of

Sybarite5

. The Radioheads’ “15 Step” complemented a highlight of the show that followed by two spirited Armenian folk songs lead by Argentinian Armenian violinist of

Sybarite5 -

Sami Meridinian. At the end of their performance they played “Meditation über den Choral ‘St. Wenceslaus” written by Josef Suk who was Dvorjak’s apprentice. Their performance showed us once again the wide range of their music tastes and high level of their playing skills.

Sybarite5

presented themselves as talented and skillful musicians. They were able to create not only a full sound picture, by using only string instruments, but they also represented composers whose music was appealing to the audience of all times and generations.

Sybarite5

impressed and established the high level of the performance that is hard to surpass, and it suits to our fast-paced world.

Written by: Marianna Tanska

Photo courtesy of: Matthew Holler