The Crossroads Project Lauded by Boston Globe
"At this point, environmentally oriented performances are nothing new, but this music is deep enough to engage on its own." Read more from the Boston Globe on the Fry Street Quartet's latest project.
December 16, 2016
“Its modes hop from inviting post-minimalism to electrifying dissonance to twisted nostalgia, ending with a pensive ascent. The Fry Street Quartet plays fluently and fluidly, with remarkable unity in unintuitive passages.”
The Fry Street Quartet's new release on Navona, The Crossroads Project, is featured in the Boston Globe.
Last month, a “king tide” brought Boston Harbor up to the sidewalk of Long Wharf, seawater flowing through cutouts in the concrete barriers. For those few hours, the border between the built and the natural shifted, creating a sense of dislocation and, for some, wonder. This liminal zone is the territory of the Fry Street Quartet’s recent release on Navona, “The Crossroads Project.” The Utah-based group performs commissions by American composers Laura Kaminsky and Libby Larsen. Both pieces center on themes of nature and sustainability, and are accompanied by topical narration and visuals when performed live; at this point, environmentally oriented performances are nothing new, but this music is deep enough to engage on its own.
Photo by Andrew McAllister
Fry Street Quartet Launches #MakeItYours, Releases 'The Crossroads Project'
Alongside an album of environmentally conscious new works by Grammy winner Libby Larsen and Pulitzer Prize nominee Laura Kaminsky, the visionary Fry Street Quartet has launched the #makeityours campaign to encourage personal responsibility for global sustainability.
September 9, 2016
Today, the visionary Fry Street Quartet releases The Crossroads Project on Navona Records: a captivating recording blending art and science to address global sustainability, featuring new works by Pulitzer Prize nominee Laura Kaminsky and Grammy Award winner Libby Larsen.
The Crossroads Project exemplifies the FSQ’s intellectual and musical curiosity and collaborative spirit. The album commemorates the ensemble’s signature multimedia performance of the same name, created in collaboration with physicist Dr. Robert Davies, which has toured to 20 cities for a total of 30 performances.
“The FSQ has always been motivated by the goal of relevancy, in matters big and small. We feel it’s critical that we bring our artistic voices to bear on a topic vital to human society,” says Fry Street Quartet cellist Anne Francis Bayless.
“The arts, and music in particular, have long been instrumental in social change movements,” adds FSQ violinist Robert Waters. “The simpler goal of this recording is to generate a wider audience for these two fantastic new works. Our larger goal, though, is to spread awareness of the work of The Crossroads Project and, by extension, its call to action for each of us to work, as quickly as we can, to change our path away from environmental destruction and toward a sustainable world.”
To help spread that awareness, FSQ has launched the #makeityours social campaign, which encourages each of us to pick a way to contribute toward a more sustainable world. To date, the stop-motion video introducing the campaign has been viewed more than 17,000 times on Facebook.