Full-on ecstasy. Unapologetically romantic. Shockingly beautiful. A bombastic romp.
That’s how the musicians of the Carpe Diem String Quartet describe the music on their first concerts of the 2024-25 season.
Those concerts take place Saturday, Oct. 12, 4 p.m. at First Community Church South, and Sunday, Oct. 13, 2 p.m., at First Unitarian Universalist Church, in Columbus, on the quartet’s Randolph A. Foster Seize the Music series. The program features the world premiere of Columbus composer Dr. Mark Lomax II’s Ubuntu, along with Prokofiev’s Second String Quartet, Sarah Gibson’s I do not want horses or diamonds for piano and string quartet and Anton Arensky’s Piano Quintet in D. Texas-based pianist Michelle Schumann joins the quartet as guest artist.
I met up on Zoom recently with the members of the Carpe Diem String Quartet – violinists Sam Weiser and Marisa Ishikawa, violist Korine Fujiwara and cellist Ariana Nelson – to chat about highlights of their upcoming season. Listen to our conversation about the quartet’s return performance in Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall and the culmination of their dynamic 15 for 15 commissioning project.
Launched in 2020 to celebrate the Carpe Diem String Quartet’s 15th anniversary, the project has catalyzed the creation and performance of 15 new string quartet works by some of today’s most innovative composers.
The 15 for 15 project concludes this season, with the world premiere of Lomax’s Ubuntu and the Ohio premieres of commissioned works by Laura Kaminsky and Carpe Diem violist Korine Fujiwara.
“We are–this season–finally finishing up our 15 for 15 performances just in time for our 20th birthday next season,” Fujiwara said.
The Carpe Diem String Quartet was formed in Columbus in 2005 and has performed around the world to wide acclaim. The group’s discography is an eclectic mix of newly commissioned works, hidden string quartet gems and standard quartet repertoire.
Jennifer Hambrick serves on the board of trustees of the Carpe Diem String Quartet.
Transcript of Interview
Jennifer Hambrick: Sam Weiser, Marisa Ishikawa, Korine Fujiwara, and Ariana Nelson, thanks for joining us. It’s great to see you all!
Sam Weiser: It’s great to see you, too. Thanks so much for having us.
Jennifer Hambrick: Pleasure, pleasure. So let’s talk about your season opener. The concert itself is called “Ubuntu,” which ties directly in with one of the works on the program, a world premiere by Columbus composer Mark Lomax. Tell us about this work and how it came about.
Korine Fujiwara: Mark Lomax is a longtime friend of the quartet. The first time we met him was 2010, when he was still finishing his doctorate at OSU in composition. And we read a movement of his very first string quartet and really liked it. We had a problem because the music was very, very complicated, and at that time iPads were not a thing for musicians to play. So, we couldn’t actually figure out a way to do the page turns in the piece. So, we played the one movement that we could lay out on multiple stands. And that piece kind of stayed in the repertoire, stayed in the Carpe Diem library. And we were trying to come up with some really cool program ideas during the pandemic. And we remembered Mark’s string quartet, and I reached out to him, I said, “Did anybody ever play the rest of that quartet?” And he said, “No, it’s never been performed since that one time in Goodale Park with Jack and Zoe Johnstone.” They had a series out there in the summertime. And so, I offered that we would do the world premiere of the entire thing on our concert, one of our series concerts that we were doing during the pandemic, livestreamed with an empty hall. We did it and loved it. And a very, very cool voice, very, very interesting rhythms. And thought, well, we should definitely include Mark as one of our 15 for 15 composers. So here we have a second string quartet from Mark Lomax.
Jennifer Hambrick: As I mentioned Ubuntu is the title of this work, so what is the work about?
Ariana Nelson: Ubuntu, I believe, means interconnectedness … compassion for others.
Sam Weiser: I think one of the things that makes the piece stand out as just immediately special, even before we’ve been playing it together – and sounds a lot like the first quartet, too – is, like, the rhythmic interplay, the hocketing between not just the melodic elements of the piece, but also that, like, the groove of it is something that all of us are contributing to in different ways, like, in very evolving ways as the piece progresses. I think it’s going to be one of the things that makes it tricky to rehearse, but also one of the things that’s really going to make it pop onstage.
Jennifer Hambrick: Also on your season opener, 2024-25 season opener, Sarah Gibson’s I do not want horses or diamonds. So it’s a great title. It’s very interconnected, if you will, with chamber music’s past. So, what is this piece about?
Marisa Ishikawa: Yeah, this is a very cool piano quintet written by Sarah Gibson. And I recently heard it for the first time and was able to play it for the first time in New York this past summer at the Chamber Music Conference of the East. And this piece, she calls it I do not want horses or diamonds because it refers to a letter that Clara Schumann wrote to Robert Schumann. It’s a love letter to him saying that, “I don’t need all these things in my life. I just need you.” It’s very evocative. It’s very introspective. It has a really haunting beginning, I think, and it has this incredible climax that ends in a similar character as it began. It’s, again, strings with piano. There’s a little bit of prepared piano, where the pianist will reach into the soprano strings and pluck them. And that timbre, at the same pitch as the violins at the beginning, is very cool. It’s something that I really had never heard before. So, she creates just spectacular colors with the different instruments. And very honored to be able to play this again. Sadly, Sarah Gibson did pass away just this summer. And it’s an honor to be able to play this and give it life and let it, you know, continue to be heard throughout the world. So, excited for that piece.
Jennifer Hambrick: And if I understand correctly, you will be joined by pianist Michelle Schumann for that performance, as well. You’ll also be performing works that are, as of today, at least, of somewhat longer duration – the Piano Quintet in D by Anton Arensky. Tell us about this one.
Sam Weiser: Well, I think, what makes me love Arensky’s work is these, like, sprawling, warm harmonies ad these long periods of just, like, full-on ecstasy. And it feels like this quintet is no different. I think for all of us as string players, the cello quartet of his is sort of the piece of his that comes to mind first in our mind. And you hear a lot of similar elements. The way that he evolves melodically and the way that he uses harmony to – it’s just so evocative. I don’t even know – it’s – I love it. I’m really excited to get to work on it. And the last movement is just a bombastic romp. It’s so good.
Korine Fujiwara: Unapologetically romantic, absolutely over the top wah!
Jennifer Hambrick: And it’s so wonderful to hear musicians simply come out and say, “I just love this piece of music that I’m going to play.” You’re also going to be performing Prokofiev’s Second String Quartet, and this I a cool piece. So, tell us about your experience with this particular piece.
Ariana Nelson: It’s kind of like rock ‘n’ roll, sarcastic, biting, at the same time juxtaposed with, like, the most luscious, beautiful, romantic – just kind of shockingly beautiful and haunting melodies. Like, in the slow movement it does have a really good cello part. There’s a cello cadenza to look out for in the third movement, so I particularly like that. But it’s just really fun. And just a little plug – we will be playing this Prokofiev at Carnegie Hall in February. So, if you like what you hear in Columbus, make sure to get tickets for Carnegie Hall. February 27th.
Jennifer Hambrick: Well, that’s extremely exciting, exciting news. That will actually be a return performance in Carnegie for the Carpe Diem String Quartet. But it’s also really exciting for us here in Columbus to be able to preview, to kind of get a sneak peek, if you will, of that return-to-Carnegie program and that performance of Prokofiev’s Second String Quartet. And biting and sarcastic, but also lusciously beautiful is just absolutely classic Prokofiev. So, again, a super cool piece. Earlier in this conversation, Korine Fujiwara, you mentioned the Carpe Diem String Quartet’s 15 for 15 commissioning project, which has been going on for some time now, and it’s sort of – we’re going to be able to keep enjoying the fruits, if you will, of that project. So, could you talk a little bit about that program, that commissioning program?
Korine Fujiwara: Absolutely. The quartet celebrated its 15th birthday in 2020. And part of the celebration was, we want to commission 15 new works by a wide variety of composers. And so that was our project. We set out and asked 15 different composers to write this music for us. And over the course of the last five years, we’ve been presenting them. It obviously was delayed in its launch, as far as performance, because of the pandemic shutdowns. But we have stayed the course, and we are, I think, this season finally finishing up our 15 for 15 performances just in time for our 20th birthday next season.
Jennifer Hambrick: Once again, I have been speaking with the members of the Carpe Diem String Quartet – Sam Weiser, Marisa Ishikawa, Korine Fujiwara and Ariana Nelson. We’re gearing up for the Carpe Diem String Quartet’s 24-25 season opener Oct. 12th and 13th here in Columbus on the quartet’s Seize the Music Series. And again, it’s been great speaking with you. Thank you all so much for joining us today. It’s been fun.
Marisa Ishikawa: Thank you.
Sam Weiser: This was really fun.
Ariana Nelson: Thank you for having us.
