Hailed as being “flawless in ensemble and intonation, expressively assured and beautifully balanced” (Gramophone), the Jasper String Quartet is highly regarded for its “programming savvy” and they are not disappointing with their Victoria debut recital this coming Sunday evening in the Phillip T. Young Recital Hall!

Folk music has the unique ability to carry generations of meaning and touch our deepest emotions through simplicity. The Jasper’s program explores this rich inspiration from the romantic period to the present day. The program opens with Gabriella Smith’s exuberant Carrot Revolution, which blends eclectic influences of Georgian folk songs, Celtic fiddle tunes, Gregorian chant, and Bach into an infectious and joyous tapestry of dance and groove. Grażyna Bacewicz (pronounced Ba-che-vich) draws on inspirations of Polish folk music and dance in her String Quartet No. 4 to bring the listener into a unique and mysterious world. The program closes with Antonín Dvořák’s String Quartet Op. 105, his final work in the genre of string quartet. Its first notes are a mystical rumination that give way to a landscape that slips from joyous melody and dance to nostalgia and menace with virtuosic fluidity, all through an incredible and inescapable lens of homeland.