Fry Street Quartet bring math and science to life during their afternoon performance

By: Kristen Steiner

Audience members were greeted by white walls displaying the creative ARTsySTEM exhibit in the basement of the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Arts at Utah State University on Sunday afternoon at 3 to hear the Fry String Quartet bring math and science to life.

The quartet was the final performance of NEHMA’s Museum and Music Series. The performance was also in conjunction with the ARTsySTEM exhibition currently being displayed at the museum and The Crossroads Project being put on by the quartet joined by Robert Davies, a USU physicist and educator.

This afternoon the quartet performed pieces by Bela Bartok and Libby Larsen, both of whose compositions were based on math and science.

While introducing Bartok’s piece at the beginning of the program, the audience was informed that Bartok’s music style was based off his interest in the STEM program. The three-movement piece was constructed of symmetrical scales and forms, atonal pitches, diminished chords and tritones.

Each of these aspects, along with many others weaved throughout the piece, brought unconventional sounds to the listeners, but yet, left many wanting more.

“I found it interesting that the instrument who had the melody had a lovely line, but those behind it had an ugly one,” said Katelyn Anderson, a USU music minor student. “I loved hearing the war between the melody and the ugly.”

In addition to the collaboration between the different disciplines on campus, the museum was the ideal location to hold the small concert for USU faculty, staff, students and local residents due to the exhibit displaying different works of art centered around math and science.

“I really like the space for this concert,” Anderson said. “The space made it unique and added the visual aspect.”

The second piece, composed by Larsen, was written when a narrative was being looked for to incorporate society’s consciousness with sustainability.

“This piece hangs on the idea of transformation on the water cycle,” said Rebecca McFaul, second violinist in the Fry Street Quartet. “The fourth movement of the piece works with the idea of reverence.”

“This was a great academic event,” said Katie Lee Koven, the museum’s executive director and chief curator, “and a great success.”