‘A multisensorial event’: Vega Quartet brings three centuries of chamber music to Northwest BachFest

This weekend’s edition of Northwest BachFest celebrates the storied history of the Vega Quartet and three centuries of chamber music.

Half of the Vega Quartet first met and began performing together as children in Shanghai, China. The group eventually moved to the United States and continued the study of their craft, resulting in a long career packed with travel and accolades.

This year, the Vega Quartet celebrates 20 years as the quartet-in-residency at Emory University in Atlanta, which has become known as one of the most stunning and passionate residencies in the country.

Zuill Bailey, Northwest BachFest’s Grammy-winning artistic director, has known the Vega Quartet for years. Although he will be the first to acknowledge their musical talents, their personalities may just be even more important.

“They are a wonderful group of people,” Bailey said. “People can be wonderful musicians, but they have to be wonderful human beings for me to want to introduce them to my family in Spokane.”

During their Saturday and Sunday performances at Barrister Winery, the renowned instrumentalists will be actively showcasing the history and development of the string quartet. In fact, they will be performing some of the earliest quartet literature penned by Joseph Haydn, who is known as the “father of the string quartet.”

The Vega Quartet will also be showcasing some of the many chamber combinations, such as two cellos in Anton Arensky’s String Quartet No. 2 in A minor and the just larger quintet stylings of Luigi Boccherini’s String Quintet in C Major. During these two pieces, Bailey and his cello will be performing alongside the Vega Quartet.

As they continue to peruse through quartet history, they will inevitably land in the modern day with pieces like Mark O’Connor’s “Bluegrass.” The Vega Quartet knows the piece and O’Connor’s modern blend of classical and bluegrass stylings well, as they have performed with the Grammy-winning multi-instrumentalist and composer (along with his wife Maggie) many times.

“I always tell Spokane audiences, ‘Listen, you’re going to get something of everything,’ all the different sounds of all different periods of history of classical music,” Bailey said, adding, “and the stories are going to be told to you by the loveliest people on Earth in a very trusted setting like, of course, Barrister Winery.”

This “trusted setting” of Barrister Winery is one consistently key aspect of Northwest BachFest and why Bailey believes it is so special. The small venue echoes the sounds of stunning instrumentation while breaking down the usual barriers between the performers and the audience. Without a stage, the musician and the concertgoer unite, drowned together in the encompassing waves formed by the strings.

“It’s a multisensorial event that most organizations don’t have the platform to present,” Bailey said. “It is a perfect, up close and personal, visceral, intimate environment.”