Norfolk, Va

Virginia Arts Festival presents Quartet New Generation

Tuesday, April 27th

Hailed as "Four Recorder Virtuosos" by The New York Times, and "mindblowing" by the Los Angeles Times, QNG-Quartet New Generation mesmerizes its audiences through innovative programming that juxtaposes contemporary and early music.

QNG is made up of 4 very talented, dynamic and interesting young women:  Susanne Fröhlich, Andrea Guttmann, Heide Schwarz and Petra Wurz.  Insider's Passport had  the privilege of interviewing these amazing and very talented musicians before their Tuesday concert for the Virginia Arts Festival.

What is the origin of your name, Quartet New Generation? Quartet New Generation was formed in September 1998 at the Amsterdam Conservatoire. Our teachers from the Conservatoire gave us a modern music piece from a Dutch composer.  When we started it was very difficult for us but we all practiced and studied it together for almost a year. After our performance (which everybody liked very much) it was clear to us to stick together.  We realized how much we liked working together. One of our main goals was to perform contemporary music.  And since there was no recorder quartet specializing in contemporary music we thought the best name would be Quartet New Generation.

How would you best describe your style of music?

Contemporary music but with very different styles.  The styles are very extreme and experimental.  Some of them are a bit more inspired by drum and bass music.  Some by jazz and rock elements.  It's very difficult to say we play only one style.  We have so many different styles.  This is also what makes us for a new generation because we are able to mix a lot of different styles into one program.  The audience really likes our programs because it's not only one certain style.  We mix contemporary with early music transitioning between the two.  We enjoy showing our audience that contemporary music is something not to fear but to enjoy and want to listen.

We had a chance to see this video of you all performing and we mesmerized by your performance!  Watch below to see the video.

Can you tell us a little abour your instruments?

In general we play about 30-40 instruments.  We use recorders shaped like the common Baroque but of course they are copies of orginals.  We play very big and small sizes, Sopranos and Bass.  We have Recorders of many different shapes.  We also use Box recorders.  They are from the 70's and they were inspired by wooden organs.

Are you excited about the show?

We are excited about performing at the Virginia Arts Festival and especially happy to be here.  Because of the weather we almost didn't make it but eventually the flights did make it.  The Virginia Arts Festival is very big festival with many great artists performing and for us as a European group and a recorder quartet we are very honored to be a part of this festival.

What can the people who are attending expect to see on Tuesday?

We have a mixed program with part early music and part contemporary music.  The program itself is called Fantasy through Symmetry.  There is a variety of styles with a certain red-line through them all.  All the pieces have a strict form and structure but there is a common theme through all the pieces.  There are some experimental pieces with contemporary techniques.  You'll see how we perform on our various instruments.

Where can you purchase your music?

You can visit our website - http://www.quartetnewgeneration.com to hear samples and you can order our CDs on www.cdbaby.com.

Thanks for the time, QNG.  We wish you continued success and look forward to hearing more of your music!

Performance Location:
Ohef Sholom Temple, Norfolk
Tickets:  $20

Click here to purchase tickets.

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Virginia Arts Festival presents Quartet New Generation - Four Recorder Virtuosos come to Norfolk, VA

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