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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (June 27, 2019)
THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 2019 // 3 SCRATCHPAD Pyxis Quartet delivers beauty in chaotic darkness There was a collective anticipation in the auditorium before the lights were com- pletely extinguished and the only glints came from the mostly covered exit signs. Audience members were instructed to clap once if they needed to leave and an usher would come fi nd them. It was a bit disorientating when the lights went com- pletely down. It took about a full minute or two to let your eyes adjust. Even then, it was diffi cult to make out a clear outline of who was sitting next to you. By JONATHAN WILLIAMS COAST WEEKEND EDITOR H earing a piece of music played in total darkness is a truly singular experience. From sounds like a car engine revving to a sub- way car screeching, sirens, a machine and music similar to “Psycho,” the thrilling, trans- fi xing performance of George Frederich Haas’ String Quar- tet No. 3 performed by the Pyxis String Quartet at the Liberty Theatre on June 21 was exceptional. coast INSIDE THIS ISSUE weekend arts & entertainment 4 7 8 THE ARTS Mary Poppins Magic nanny unites family on the stage in Chinook The quartet, comprised of violinists Ron Blessinger, Gregory Ewer, violist Charles Noble and cellist Marilyn de Oliveira, made a rectan- gle with each of them tak- ing a corner at the edge of the block of seats closest to the stage, creating a different sound experience depending on where you were seated. What enfolded was an 18-episode piece with a beginning, end and 16 epi- sodes in the middle. The quartet explained that the piece has “invitations and responses” which can be COAST WEEKEND EDITOR JONATHAN WILLIAMS CALENDAR COORDINATOR BREE ELLIOTT took twists and turns, too. While it could be frustrat- ing at times to listen to the creeks and screeches, the dif- fi culty of pressing lightly on the fi ngerboard or pressing extremely hard on the strings demonstrated the quartet’s musicianship. Playing in the dark is also hard for the musicians: they can’t see each other, their music or the audience. It requires them to have “big ears” and listen extremely hard to each other. According to Blessinger, the piece can last as long as one hour and 20 minutes or as short as 20 minutes. The quar- tet has clocked in at just over one hour each time they’ve played it, he said. By about 45 minutes into the piece, you could hear someone who had dosed off softly snoring. But that was quickly changed by an intense sense of taking fl ight and ascend- ing higher through a sustained climb produced by the players sawing away until you could feel the machine they created cooling down and turning off until the sound petered out to nothing. As experimental as the piece is, Blessinger said the quartet still has to rise above the notes to achieve liftoff. And they certainly did. This powerful, monumen- tal performance was a truly remarkable experience and one that Astorians are lucky to have a theater willing to take a risk to program. CW CONTRIBUTORS RYAN HUME KATHERINE LACAZE BARBARA LLOYD McMICHAEL PATRICK WEBB THE ARTS Training for their future Students perform in a Puccini opera FEATURE Two summer plays To advertise in Coast Weekend, call 503-325-3211 or contact your local sales representative. © 2019 COAST WEEKEND New items for publication consideration must be submitted by 10 a.m. Tuesday, one week and two days before publication. ‘And Then There Were None’ and ‘Nunsense!’ TO SUBMIT AN ITEM 10 accepted or not. Each par- ticular episode has specifi c requirements. The piece, composed in 2001, has a Catholic sub- text and is set the night before Easter and focuses on the dis- location from God. There were pizzicatos, abrupt squeaks, bouncing on the fi ngerboard, dragging, slides, screeches, sawing and bouncing. The piece holds a spec- trum of extremes: descents and ascents, harmonics, echoey trills, tremolos, key changes, arpeggios, occa- sional unisons and vibrato and louder moments made bolder by the almost inaudible pianissimos. You could feel the mood in the room change as the piece DINING Astoria’s best food trucks 13 food carts off er unique bites, fl avors FURTHER ENJOYMENT MUSIC CALENDAR .....................5 CROSSWORD ...............................6 SEE + DO ............................. 12, 13 CW MARKETPLACE.......... 15, 16 Find it all online! CoastWeekend.com features full calendar listings, keyword search and easy sharing on social media. Phone: 503.325.3211 Ext. 217 or 800.781.3211 Fax: 503.325.6573 E-mail: editor@coastweekend.com Address: P.O.Box 210 • 949 Exchange St. Astoria, OR 97103 Coast Weekend is published every Thursday by the EO Media Group, all rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced without consent of the publisher. 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