Bat in beehive, rain among string quartet surprises over years

About 30 kids and teens at Boys & Girls Clubs of Wayne County were “completely engaged” while attending a Chanticleer String Quartet performance last week.

“They’ve still got it,” said Eli Howell, the clubs’ senior art instructor, about the Richmond-based quartet that is marking its 50th summer music festival.

Howell said he was impressed how engaged club members were with the musicians, listening to their descriptions of the pieces and composers, clapping in rhythm, and asking questions.

Members are free to move around the building through the open-program concept, but those who attended wanted to watch the whole performance that was tailored to them, he said.

“Kids vote with their feet, but they were planted in the chairs,” Howell said.

Connecting youth with music has been a lifelong goal of Caroline Klemperer Green, who is still performing in the quartet she founded in 1977. Additional founding members were her sister and fellow violinist Erika Klemperer, cellist Ron Crutcher and violist Ruth Morrow.

When asked whether she initially expected the quartet to continue for 50 seasons, Klemperer Green said she never thought about it.

“We went from year to year, doing what we love to do,” she said.

During the first summer, Klemperer Green was juggling two sons, ages 4 and 1, and her third wasn’t yet born. However, they’ve always been involved, and son Aaron is bringing his family from Portland, Oregon, to attend the final concerts of the season.

Klemperer Green said she still enjoys making music with wonderful musicians and feeling a great camaraderie among the players.

She brings musicians from across the country to rehearse on her family’s Chanticleer Farm, where they will perform their final concert of the summer at 3:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 2.

The musicians also stay on the farm for a few weeks, taking turns with chores such as cooking and gardening and spending time together canoeing and riding bikes in addition to rehearsing and traveling to concerts. Violinist Stefan Xhori enjoys fishing on the farm and sometimes catches their dinner. He said this year is only the beginning of the next 50 years.

“It’s a very holistic experience, going out and sharing what we have together,” Klemperer Green said.

Guest pianist Darius Frowner hails from New York City. Violist Jennifer Smith, who joined in 1991, lives in Montana. Xhori, recruited in 2014, and cellist Elizabeth Gottling Mendoza, who joined in 1995, live near Philadelphia.

This year, the quartet and Frowner will play popular music from “Star Wars,” “Fiddler on the Roof” and “Phantom of the Opera” as well as selections by composers Haydn, Brahms, Schubert, Beethoven and Mozart.

Other performances during the tour include Bethany Theological Seminary, Richmond State Hospital and Friends Fellowship Community in Richmond, along with Honeywell Center in Wabash, Timbercrest Senior Living in North Manchester and Arts Garden in Indianapolis.

Several memorable performances have arisen over the years. Klemperer Green remembers vocal soloist Rosemarie Gore Bigbee came out to sing “Stormy Weather” with an umbrella prop and rain jacket at a farm concert when it started sprinkling, and by the time her song was done, the rain had stopped as if it was planned.

She also remembers when the first violist, who was 6 feet tall and had another 6 inches of beehive hairdo, got a bat in her hair at the Winchester venue’s basement just before they went on stage. She let out a shriek that startled the audience. The other members laughed for about five minutes before calming down and performing.

Members have gone through births, deaths, sickness and the pandemic together but they’ve always been supportive of each other, Klemperer Green said.