Chaski Quartet to bring rarely played works to Cathedral of St. John

The name Chaski Quartet was inspired by the running messengers of the Andes, who would travel long distances to relay important information and stories between communities.

From prison halls to church sanctuaries, the four musicians are committed to performing works rarely played to people who rarely hear them.

Much of their music features compositions by women and people of color.

Chaski Quartet to bring rarely played works to Cathedral of St. John

The Chaski Quartet will perform at the Cathedral of St. John on Sunday, June 16.

“They’re kind of like running messengers,” said Maxine Thévenot, cathedral music director.

Formed in 2019, the group consists of Amy Huzjak, principal cellist with the New Mexico Philharmonic; violinist Sarah Cranor; violist Han Dewan; and conductor and violinist Alejandro Gómez Guillén.

The concert will open with Haydn’s Quartet in No. 1 in G Major, Op. 76, nicknamed “Jack-in-the Box.” The piece moves from boisterous fun to prayerful pathos. From that early piece, the program moves to more recent works that continue to stretch the definition of what four string instruments can do.

Inspired by West African drumming patterns, “Voodoo Dolls” by Jessie Montgomery overlays those rhythms with lyrical chant and improvisation. Gabriela Lena Frank’s “Leyendas” uses extended techniques to create the sounds of the Andes Mountains through panpipes, flutes, running messengers and mourning women. Frank has said writing the piece helped her find her voice in the compositional world.

“The strings will be imitating the instruments like flutes,” Thévenot said. “They will be emulating the sounds of rain in the Andes.

“It’s a really amazing and intense piece of music,” she added. “The last movement is like a fun party. It covers the gamut of human emotion.”

The encore, “Maniacal Swing” is about as far out of the staid, buttoned-up, stereotypical box as one minute of classical music can get.