The all-female string quartet ATLYS performed their newly released album “Sonnenberg Suite” at Nichols Concert Hall on Sunday.
ATLYS consists of twin sisters, violinist Sabrina Tabby (Bienen M.M. ’16) and cellist Genevieve Tabby (Bienen M.M. ’15), violinist Jinty McTavish and violist Kayla Cabrera. “Sonnenberg Suite” was composed by Ari Fisher, inspired by the story behind New York’s Sonnenberg Gardens.
The group expanded the presentation of their album for the wider Artemis Chamber Orchestra, which further embellishes the piece, Sabrina Tabby said.
“Not only is (“Sonnenberg Suite”) totally new music, but this is in the style of Tchaikovsky and Borodin and any romantic composer you can think of,” Genevieve Tabby said.
ATLYS has amassed many accolades since its formation in 2016. Even so, the group continues to try new styles and take on different challenges within the world of music.
The quartet has covered a variety of genres, ranging from EDM to pop covers, McTavish said. However, this album is their first original classical release.
“We don’t usually play classical pieces,” Genevieve Tabby said. “But it’s a piece that was written for us. I mean, we always say we want to be playing music that is for us or by us, and this music just fits right in with us.”
The album’s 10 movements each aim to convey the emotions behind a different garden featured in the Sonnenberg landscape.
The unique sound of each movement can be attributed to Fisher’s judgment, according to Sabrina Tabby.
“Each of them have their own characters, too, how they are, their builds,” McTavish said. “The Rock Garden, for example, has this big organic, flowy (feeling), but then it builds up to this big moment, and that’s because there is a staircase that goes up to this overlook that’s in the garden.”
The gardens were originally created by Mary Thompson who developed them in memory of her deceased husband.
The music is meant to tell their story — one of love, Sabrina Tabby said.
“You can get a sense of this idea that you would create something in the memory of someone you love; we can all kind of relate to that,” she said.
In their new album, ATLYS worked to create string music that a diverse group of people can relate to, broadening their audience.
ATLYS is not yet done creating music. Sabrina Tabby said the quartet has more projects planned for the future.
“There’s a lot of twists and turns. So we’re gonna go from neo-romantic to EDM with a new single in January that we’re dropping,” McTavish said. “We’re full steam ahead. We’re not stopping here.”
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