Two Couples, One Quartet

There’s an old expression about couples falling in love and making beautiful music together. Well, the Voxare String Quartet really took that expression to heart.

The quartet consists of two couples: Emily Ondracek-Peterson and Erik Peterson, who have been married since 2008, and Galina Zhdanova and Adrian Daurov who are in a long-term relationship.

Both couples teamed up musically before the quartet started in 2008. The four musicians met at Juilliard, and started playing after graduation. Ondracek-Peterson and Peterson met through a youth orchestra in Chicago while they were in high school.

“We ended up playing chamber music and orchestra together for a long time, and then coming to New York to Juilliard we continued to play together although we also played with other people,” Ondracek-Peterson says.

Voxare String Quartet is coming to Princeton for a July 14 concert that’s part of Princeton University’s Summer Chamber Concerts series. The program will include performances of pieces for string quartet by Samuel Barber (Voxare’s performance of that piece won a rave review from “The New York Times”), Lou Harrison and Dmitri Shostakovich.

The program reflects the group’s goal to keep their concerts interesting. Pairing American and Russian works reflects the quartet because the Petersons are from Chicago while Zhdanova and Daurov are from Russia.

“The Lou Harrison is something that is a piece that we found that we absolutely love,” Ondracek-Peterson says. “It’s really a truly interesting, it kind of explores Middle East-type music, and our cellist (Daurov) really loved it because the cello kind of turns into a drum (in the piece).”

The program for the July 14 concert reflects Voxare’s attempt to distinguish itself from other quartets.

“It’s not your standard, play some Haydn in the beginning and then a new piece in the middle and then a standard piece at the end,” Ondracek-Peterson says.

The quartet also tries new things in an attempt to keep their music interesting. The members assembled pieces from various Russian composers to put together a soundtrack for an old Russian silent film, “Man with a Movie Camera.” The quartet performed the music live during a screening of the film a few weeks ago.

Rock music even makes its way into Voxare concerts. A recent performance in the Hamptons in New York featured an arrangement of the Rolling Stones’ “Paint it Black.”

“The way we think about our music and what we’re trying to do makes us a bit different than a number of the other young quartets out there who basically play standard, traditional repertoire,” Ondracek-Peterson says.

The two-couple format has its advantages because they can discuss the quartet’s work before and after rehearsals.

“I think it also helps in keeping (the quartet) together because instead of four individuals it’s really two groups of people,” Ondracek-Peterson says.

Outside of the quartet, the members have performed as soloists with orchestras such as the Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony and St. Petersburg Philharmonic.

Voxare’s sound is a result of what the members have in common as well as their differences.

“Playing in a quartet, there have to be similar sounds that each of you create, as well as similar ideas about intonation and rhythm,” Ondracek-Peterson says. “But of course there are some things, music ideas, that we come across that we think of differently. So we just have to try different things, try everyone’s ideas and figure out which one works.”

Most important, perhaps, is that the four musicians genuinely like each other, not just the ones they’re in relationships with.

“You have to get along personally to really have a group stay together,” Ondracek-Peterson says. “That’s the biggest thing. Musical issues, you can work through but if you don’t like each other, then it’s tough to make it work.

“All four of us do get along very well together.”

Voxare String Quartet will perform at Richardson Auditorium on the campus of Princeton University on July 14, 8 p.m. Tickets are free and are available at the box office starting at 6:30 p.m. The Summer Chamber Concert series will conclude with a performance by the Linden String Quartet on July 26. For information, call 609-570-8404 or go to www.pusummerchamberconcerts.org.