Green Room: The Cypress String Quartet

In 1995, violinists Cecily Ward and Tom Stone teamed with viola player Ethan Filner and cellist Jennifer Kloetzel in San Francisco to form the Cypress String Quartet.

But what set them apart then -- and now -- is that they weren't put together in a conservatory, college or institution, as many ensembles are. They trained individually at Juilliard, Interlochen Arts Academy, Cleveland Institute of Music, Guildhall School of Music & Drama and the Royal College of Music, and it wasn't until they left their studies that they formed the group on their own.

“We chose to come together to do this," Kloetzel said. "I don’t know if it was courageous or crazy but we were at the point in our lives when we thought now was a good time to do this.”

As it turns out, it was. Now in its 15th season, the quartet is headed to the Barns at Wolf Trap on Friday night to combine the classical chamber style with something new: a multimedia production.

“This is a really different kind of show than our normal show,” Kloetzel said. “It is very special and unique to everything I know out there in the chamber music world because it includes multimedia.”

The innovative production is titled “Inspired by America” and features music by Samuel Barber, Antonin Dvořák, Charles Ives, Jennifer Higdon, Dan Coleman, Benjamin Lees, Benjamin Franklin, Charles Griffes and Elena Ruehr.

The 90-minute show combines the live performance of the string quartet with lighting, spoken word and a film.

“I like to look at it as almost like an opera, in a way,” Kloetzel said. “We go from playing selections of music to film segments to playing with the music underneath the film.”

The film segments are comprised of narratives by Jacob Needleman from his book, “The American Soul,” as well as from Emmy-and Peabody Award-winning producer Michael Schwarz.

The show was born after 9/11, when the quartet sat around asking the questions, ‘What does it mean to be an American?’ and they decided to come up with this innovative program.

“We have been doing this for the past four seasons,” Kloetzel said. “It’s attractive to people who wouldn’t necessary come to a chamber music program, and what I love is that it creates a new audience.”

The quartet, which takes its name from Dvořák's 12 love songs for string quartet, “The Cypresses,” opens the show playing in pitch-black from memory.  Then the film’s rolls its first segment: "What America is about."  The rest of the show intertwines the mediums.

There’s even a music selection that is said to have been written by Benjamin Franklin, which the quartet plays in a section that honors some of our country’s past presidents.

“All the music is American music or inspired by American music,” Kloetzel said. “The text and film gives you something to think about and then the music supports that and lets you reflect on it in a way.”

Over the years, the Cypress String Quartet has commissioned and premiered more than 30 new works, four of which are now included on Chamber Music America’s list of 101 Great American Ensemble Works.

Looking ahead, the quartet plans to continue making beautiful music together.

“We still love playing together, rehearsing together, being together and discovering new music together,” Kloetzel said. “The curiosity and the delight is still there.”

The Cypress String Quartet performs at 8 p.m. at . Tickets are $35.