St. Lawrence String Quartet
Geoff Nuttall, violin; Scott St. John, violin; Lesley Robertson, viola; Christopher Costanza, cello
"Celebrating 20 years, this group has matured and deepened without losing its freshness and edge."
– The Globe and Mail, April 2009
The St. Lawrence String Quartet regularly plays in top venues like Amsterdam's Concertgebouw and New York's Carnegie Hall. But they are willing to perform just about anywhere they're wanted, and some of their favourite memories involve small towns. Theirs is a life of airports, rented minivans, and constant rehearsals, but the St. Lawrence String Quartet has made it work for 20 years, balancing family lives with a busy career, including working as the Quartet-in-Residence at Stanford University in San Francisco.
They are especially committed to their native Canada, and are enthusiastic about playing in smaller and more remote communities. Their first Piano Plus tour, to Yellowknife and area, is not only an adventure, but allows them to give back to the country that nurtured them.
Regardless of the venue, the St. Lawrence players maintain a strong desire to share the wonders of chamber music with their listeners, a characteristic of the foursome that has led them to a more informal performance style than one might expect from chamber musicians. "Play every concert like it's your last; every phrase like it's the most important thing you've ever said," Geoff Nuttall asserts. "Remember that the only reason you're there is to make people cry and sweat and shiver, and give them that incredible sense of creation happening before your eyes. That's the reason we all play. Otherwise there's no point."
"When you think of classical music audiences, "says cellist Christopher Costanza, "the stereotype is that they're older and more traditional in what they want to hear. We want to connect with younger people."
Excerpted from The Strad Magazine, August 2009
