DragonBoot String Quartet joins Eleva Chamber Players Jan. 11

January 3, 2024  |  By Waterbury Roundabout 

DragonBoot String Quartet - from top: violinists Cate Carson and Katya Moeller, violist Sydney Whipple, cellist Lila Holyoke - performs with Eleva Chamber Players Jan. 11 in Waterbury.  Courtesy photo

The Eleva Chamber Players present the New York City-based DragonBoot String Quartet in concert in Waterbury on Saturday, Jan. 11.

The ensemble of vibrant and exceptionally talented early-career musicians will perform music of two familiar composers and will also introduce the audience to the work of a contemporary American composer. 

The performance will begin at 3 p.m. at the Waterbury Congregational Church. The program will include Haydn’s String Quartet Op.33 No. 1, Mozart’s String Quartet No. 21 in D - K575 and Caroline Shaw’s Three Essays for String Quartet. 

The DragonBoot String Quartet is comprised of violinists Cate Carson and Katya Moeller, violist Sydney Whipple (an Eleva member) and cellist Lila Holyoke. 

Formed on a foundation of deep musical relationships, this ensemble has fostered musical connections among its members. Violinist Cate Carson and violist Sydney Whipple first played together at the California Summer Music Festival—over 10 years ago. Cellist Lila Holyoke and violinist Katya Moeller have performed together in chamber ensembles for three consecutive years. Most recently, Lila and Cate performed together for seven weeks, sharing chamber works with children at Kneisel Hall. 

The DragonBoot String Quartet fuses these avid chamber musicians who have come together at The Juilliard School where they currently are in the Honors Chamber Music Program, coaching with former Cavani Quartet member, Merry Peckham and Juilliard Provost and violist, Adam Meyer.

Asked about the quartet’s name, violist Sydney Whipple replied with a thoughtful perspective that traces the significance it holds with the musicians. Whipple attributes the concept to fellow musician and coach Peckham. “She said it contrasts visually with the unassuming image of an all-female string quartet and it made us feel powerful, so we kept it.” 

Elaborating, Whipple explained that the tradition at Juilliard is to hold musicians to the somewhat rigid expectations of classical music with permission to push boundaries. “We’ve done this by studying music that (unofficially) pays homage to other genres and sound worlds, seeking to create a modern representation of a string quartet,” she explained. 

In performances, the quartet intentionally showcases opposites, “pairing timeless classics (such as the Haydn) with music that brings non-traditional sound worlds to light,” Whipple said. “We self-describe the final essay of the Shaw as ‘psychedelic neoclassical fiddle rock’ with auditorial evocations of fingers sliding up the frets of a guitar, followed immediately by sections of warped second-species counterpoint (like a baroque or classical composer would use). In this sense, the performance showcases the dichotomy between traditional and new, in the way that our name represents.”

DragonBoot performs with the Eleva Chamber Players, Central Vermont’s professional string chamber orchestra founded in 2006 in Waterbury with the mission of elevating the human spirit through music.  Eleva’s concerts feature fine musicianship and dialogue that aims to be both educational and inspiring.  

The conductor-less orchestra operates using a collaborative process and its members are professional musicians from around Vermont and the U.S. 

Read more about DragonBoot and Eleva Chamber Players here.

Tickets: $25 general admission; $20 for seniors and students. Available in advance online at elevachamberplayers.com or at the door.