[UNC] Campus Selects Leader for Arts*
*Note: With permission of The Daily Tar Heel and Jim Walsh, the paper’s Assistant Arts & Entertainment Editor, CVNC republished an article on new UNC Arts Czar Emil Kang that first appeared in the DTH on 11/15/04 and that remains available online at
http://www.dailytarheel.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2004/11/15/4198e8cc05f5c?in_archive=1 [inactive 1/06]. CVNC’s reprint ran from 11/18 – 12/18/04.
http://www.dailytarheel.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2004/11/15/4198e8cc05f5c?in_archive=1 [inactive 1/06]. CVNC’s reprint ran from 11/18 – 12/18/04.
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All About Ethel
by Jeffrey Rossman
This is not your father’s string quartet. The image of the string quartet has certainly evolved in the past 30 years or so. Not very long ago, the string quartet, the “classic” concert music ensemble, was considered to be the epitome of old-fashioned, boring, and elitist music. Probably the greatest popular-culture depiction of this perception came in the early years of the TV show Saturday Night Live , where a recurring skit featured a group called The Dead String Quartet. Four ghostlike, doddering old persons barely had the strength to lift their bows and get out a single, creaky chord before they all slowly fell over their music stands and collapsed on the floor. Well, I guess you had to be there. About the same time that this extreme caricature was being broadcast, the Kronos Quartet burst onto the scene, and the image of the string quartet was changed forever.
So, just what is an “Ethel,” and are they safe for children and other living things?
Ethel is a young, exciting string quartet that will be performing at Reynolds Theater on November 16, and yes, people of all ages will enjoy their eclectic, sometimes electric styles, virtuosic musicianship, and sense of fun. Upon hearing about this group, most people ask the obvious: “What’s with the name?” They actually started off playing as “Hazardous Materials” – but as a NY-based ensemble, they felt that this was unwise in a post-9/11 world.
So, is Ethel the name of a beloved third grade teacher? An old aunt? A longing for the old days when gasoline was called “Ethyl” and cost 12¢ a gallon? A tribute to Ethel Mertz, Lucy’s neighbor on I Love Lucy ? Good guesses, all of them, but the name actually comes from the film Shakespeare in Love , wherein the Bard faced writer’s block over an early draft entitled Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate’s Daughter (a fictitious comedy…).
The members of Ethel prefer to be referred to as a band, and they don’t shy away from making a spectacle of themselves and their music. Lighting, choreography, special effects, and a general “show biz” feel, in the best sense of that phrase, permeates their performances, which have been described as “a tightrope act without a net.” But, this is no undisciplined, three-chord garage band. They are all highly trained and experienced musicians who came through the usual “classical” training to forge a culturally-relevant musical ensemble for their own generation. Ethel consists of the traditional string quartet lineup of two violins, viola and cello, but they are anything but conventional. Their backgrounds run the gamut from world-renown chamber orchestras to a music director for a recent tour of Roger Daltrey, of The Who. Let’s meet them.
Mary Rowell, violin, has had an incredibly diverse career. Her “legit” background includes stints with the Colorado, Houston and National symphonies in addition to touring and recording with Sheryl Crow, Joe Jackson, the Tango Project, and the Silos. She is currently Concertmistress of the Radio City Music Hall Orchestra.
The New Yorker called Todd Reynolds “New York’s leading classical/jazz violinist.” He has long been associated with the Steve Reich ensemble, and he moonlights on Broadway as a quadruple threat – a conductor, arranger, orchestra member, and sometime performer.
Ralph Farris, viola, is a graduate of Juilliard, but like the other players he has shaped his career to include gigs with show orchestras, arranging, playing with rock and jazz artists, and teaching.
Dorothy Lawson, cello, might be considered the Ethel member with the most prestigious traditional background. She has played with many of the great orchestras of our time, including the New York Philharmonic, American Symphony, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and Philharmonia Virtuosi.
Ethel recently released a solo CD, curiously titled “Ethel,” on the Cantaloupe label, and it serves as a great sampler of what they are all about. As of this writing I have listened to the CD and watched a 10-minute promotional video but not yet experienced them in concert. I can tell from this brief video that they are definitely a group that needs to be heard and seen. So, what can you expect from this collection of string players? While many people have described them with labels like “pop” or “rock,” Ethel tries to avoid such adjectives when discussing their music. They incorporate electronic effects and often use distortion pedals and other paraphernalia that most people would usually associate with rock guitarists or keyboard players, but they don’t employ these techniques merely to overpower or overwhelm. It might be easier to say what they are not, rather than what they are, since that is and will always be an evolving process. Don’t expect laid-back, “new age” noodling. Their goal is not to relax you and put you in a stupor. Their music is filled with energy and intelligence, but don’t also look for dense, cerebral, academic compositions. (Somehow I don’t think many of you are disappointed to hear that!) They are contemporary musicians who through their music portray the sounds they have grown up with and live with in the here and now. They play the blues, they can sound like a great ’60s rock group, they evoke Motown – and they can turn on a dime to display virtuosity that any great classical ensemble would envy. The fact that they are a string quartet is almost secondary.
Just as you wouldn’t refuse to go hear the Emerson String Quartet because you have already heard the Tokyo String Quartet, or say that one jazz quartet is just like any other, so you should not make the mistake of staying home from Ethel because you’ve already seen one of the other “alternative” string quartets. In fact, while acknowledging their debt to the Kronos Quartet, Ethel wants you to know that they are definitely not Kronos, Jr. Ethel comes more from the streets and uses the best of all the musical aspects of our culture. Their goal is not to draw you into the string quartet genre so you leave their concert saying “Hey, maybe I’ll try a Beethoven quartet now.” They don’t want to be an entry point into the past. Ethel takes the music you’ve lived with and transforms it into a unique visual and aural trip. Come along for the ride!
For more information on Ethel, visit their website at http://www.ethelcentral.com/ .
(posted 11/6/04)