As the stage lights up four people donning formal wear stride onto the stage. They take their places next to their respective instruments, and then the music plays; enticing, entertaining. This is the Wasmuth Quartet, which comprises Jonathan Ong and Dorothy Ro on violins, Abigail Rojansky on viola and Warren Hagerty on cello, and here they share their musical journey…
“Playing classical string quartet is our primary work and the thing about playing in a professional string quartet is that you take your love of playing quartet everywhere you go. Even when we leave the stage or rehearsal room, we are always thinking about our work because it is also our great passion.
“We are currently in the process of rebranding our quartet but the original name Wasmuth came from an experience we shared very early in our career together. During a residency we took at the Villa Wasmuth in cooperation with the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn, Germany shortly after our inception in 2013, we learned of the German patron of the arts, Johannes Wasmuth, who was responsible for bringing recognition to many great artists and works of art especially during WWII. We are honoured to carry out the vision of this tremendous figure in history.
“Each of us has had a slightly different beginning to our musical life but all of us began music studies relatively early having been introduced to it by our parents, several of whom were musicians themselves but some of whom were just supporters and lovers of music. After our eighteen to twenty four years of study, the intensity of work that a high level of music making requires becomes a way of life both professionally and as a hobby.
“Our ‘creative process’ is by no means a static thing; when we grow as individuals, the group adapts and when the group changes, our way of thinking as a group changes so the process is constantly developing. There is, of course, always a period of exploration – from there we usually try to understand a piece from at least two crucial perspectives: one is of course technical and the other artistic or expressive. Everything we do, or try to do, boils down to one primary goal which is to do our best to really understand what the composer was trying to say when he or she wrote the work and then to convey that through our medium to the audience.
“Our focus is the classical string quartet, so that means music from what is referred to as the Western classical canon of repertoire (ca. 1750 to the present day). There is so much extraordinary music from this period either already written or currently being composed for the string quartet; we are always grateful to be able to study this repertoire so closely.
“As musicians, we feed off the energy the audience provides and having a wonderful, excited and interested audience like here in the UAE makes performing the joy it is meant to be.
“We are very fortunate to have some truly inspirational artists as our mentors. Our primary mentors are the Pacifica Quartet, who are an incredible ensemble both musically and personally, are a constant source of inspiration as well as information.
“An average day for us would probably sound a little boring to most people because we really spend most of the day in a studio rehearsing! But we are lucky enough to be able to travel quite a lot as a quartet and it means a lot to us to get to know different cities, countries and cultures; it’s really an honour for us to then be able to share our art form with people from all around the world.
“We hope to be able to continue making music together and sharing it with the world for as many years as possible! The greatest fuel to fire great success is love of what you do. Allow your passion for music and your curiosity about your own potential to transform you into the best musician you can be!
“We can be found online via our new name, the Verona Quartet, on Facebook, Twitter and on our website veronaquartet.com.”
