Royce String Quartet to bring varied repertoire to Powell Library

To fulfill graduation requirements while providing an outlet for a smaller, collaborative environment, several graduate students in music founded the Royce String Quartet at UCLA in 2012.

Now, two years later, the group of four makes its L.A. concert performance debut on Friday night as part of UCLA Library’s “Music in the Rotunda” concert series.

The quartet is made up of current students and alumni of the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music: Leila Nassar-Fredell (violin), Mira Khomik (violin), Alison Spieth (viola) and Sean Fischer (cello).

Nassar-Fredell, an alumna with a doctorate in musical arts for violin performance, and Khomik, a graduate student in the same doctoral program, were in Italy on tour with UCLA’s chamber ensemble Camarades when they came up with the idea for a string quartet. On their return, they spoke with violin professor Guillaume Sutre, and the Royce String Quartet quickly became a reality.

While all of the members attributed individual music growth to the music school’s faculty, they discovered within the Royce String Quartet an opportunity to explore a special kind of classical setting apart from solo and larger orchestra performances.

“You learn how to work with others in an intimate setting and work as a team to produce the best quality of work possible,” Khomik said.

Fischer, graduate student in cello performance, said that although he was assigned to the group during his first year to fulfill mandatory chamber music ensemble credit, he chose to stay in the Royce String Quartet rather than rotate on a quarterly basis. While many students select this method for a more varied experience, Fischer said he enjoyed the level of playing he discovered when working for a longer period of time with the same musicians.

In only two years, the Royce String Quartet has already found success, winning competitions such as the 2013 San Diego Music Teachers’ Association of California Chamber Music Competition and the 2013 Ladies Musical Club of Seattle’s small ensemble competition.

For its free performance in Powell Library on Friday, the quartet will play Joseph Haydn’s String Quartet, Op. 76, No. 4 (“Sunrise”), Dmitri Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 7 in F-sharp minor, Op. 108 and Sergei Prokofiev’s String Quartet No. 2 in F-major, Op. 92. The set list featured was selected early on this year in designing a repertoire showcasing the quartet’s abilities in a variety of musical styles.

Haydn wrote his quartet in classical orchestral style, the sound associated with Mozart symphonies. This is in contrast to the Russian Prokofiev, who wrote in the 20th century neoclassical period and weaves folk melodies throughout his composition. Although Shostakovich is another Russian composer, Fischer said his musical writing is another kind of style in itself. Fischer said they added his quartet to their repertoire to help the listener stay interested and for the musicians’ own enjoyment.

“We’re excited to explore all of the different angles of quartets,” Khomik said.

Founding member Nassar-Fredell said this global, all-encompassing capacity is what makes classical music such a human necessity. It’s been 20 years since she first began to play the violin and Nassar-Fredell said she loves that the quartet has given her the opportunity to play alongside a small group of worldly musicians, each bringing to the table their own distinct perspective.

“It’s wonderful to be able to take music from all different countries and all different historical eras and just realize how fresh and current and needed it is,” Nassar-Fredell said.

Bringing music to Powell Library gives the Royce String Quartet the opportunity to invite faculty, friends and colleagues alike to its first solo performance.

“It will be nice to just play for an audience without the stress of a competition going on in our heads,” Fischer said. “And with the acoustics and atmosphere of being in Powell.”