"OBER AUSTRIA GROOVE"

For the past 10 years the Spring String Quartet has been shattering all wide-spread clichés concerning string music and has re-defined the artistic modes of expression of a classic string quartet.
This innovative musical organism consisting  of four musicians who each have a highly individual artistic personality and who have grown into a unique body of sound, play evergreen classics composed by musicians of everlasting greatness like Deep Purple, Police and many others, as well as commissioned pieces and their own compositions.
All pieces in their programme are characterised by an enormous amount of capricious creativity combined with a fascinatingly infectious groove. Their brilliant technique, extravagant wit and their incomparable humour, which is complemented by their enormously entertaining stage presentation, guarantee the audience a real treat.

From the program:
Deep Purple: "Highway Star"
Michael Radanovics: " A Neapolitan sixth chord ",  "Wie weit weit"
Herwig Neugebauer: "Mazurka for a sentimental cowboy"
Billy Joel: Root Beer Rag
Ohad Talmor: "Ober Austria Groove"
a.o.

Instrumentation:
Christian Wirth, violin
Marcus Wall, violin
Julian Gillesberger, viola
Stephan Punderlitschek, cello

Short biography:
For more than 10 years the four gentlemen of the Upper Austrian SPRING STRING QUARTET have been performing on various stages in Austria, Europe and in the US.
Ever since the beginning of their cooperation with the American Jazz legend Lee Konitz the SPRING STRING QUARTET ranks among the leading European Jazz-Rock-Classical Crossover string quartets. Last year’s highlight was their debut in Carnegie Hall, New York.

A press review ran:
“Weird and yet perfect violin groove, superbly presented.(...) The four musicians shatter the myth of awkwardness which commonly surrounds contemporary music. Some commissioned works by young composers are masterfully presented. The audience in the sold out middle hall of the Brucknerhaus breaks into enthusiastic applause whenever the quartet interprets classics of rock music (...)" Oberösterreichische Nachrichten, 2007/04/25

"A concert hall filled with raving fans,...Cheerful and sentimental sounds alternate throughout the program; the fans were roused by loud funky sounds and then calmed down again by almost meditative tunes..."
Österreich, 2007/04/25

 “...until the listeners get yanked from their comfort zone and as their ears get shattered by indescribable yet fascinating sounds. A classical rhythm turns into a hard beat; a Viennese waltz becomes an insightful jazz composition. Once you’ve experienced their music, there is only one thing left to do: forget everything you thought you knew about String Quartet music: – SSQ is fascinatingly different!“
(Schwäbische Zeitung)



"...has the capacity to entrance their listener to almost euphoric enthusiasm hand with wild rock and pop sounds just to leave them lost in reverie with jazz and blues rhythms....fantastically easy listening on a high musical level is being offered here."
(Neues Volksblatt)


"...highly flexible string quartet. A precise and aggressive unit,
the Spring String Quartet ate this boppish material up with bold
exchanges of eights and a genuine sense of swing feel. Their slapping
and tapping of the strings and bodies of their instruments attained
the desired percussive backbeat effect, giving this precious-sounding
music an edge." (JazzTimes)



Info: www.ssq.at