CLEVELAND, Ohio – In case you missed it, the “classical crossover” music genre is a thing.
While some marquee artists have fortified the trend over the last decade, many point to Jeff Lynne and Electric Light Orchestra and oft-snubbed Emerson, Lake & Palmer in the 70s as where it began.
Along the way, everyone from pianist / NPR host Christopher O’Riley to the annual tradition of Trans-Siberian Orchestra have found success in blending the traditions together. Among those recent purveyors, the Vitamin String Quartet (VSQ) stands alone as dynamic musical force.
Curious listeners can witness the VSQ on Thursday, October 24, when they perform at E.J. Thomas Hall in Akron. On this tour, “Taylor Swift, Bridgerton & Beyond,” the quartet performs “innovative” renditions of Swift’s music, along with hits from Billie Eilish, BTS, The Weeknd, and Daft Punk.
They’ll also perform music from the Netflix smash series “Bridgerton.”
Since the project began in 1999, VSQ has been fortifying film and television soundtrack moments and tweaking pop-rock favorites from across Billboard charts – including the ever-present Swift.
Placements in “Bridgerton,” HBO’s “Westworld,” Showtime’s “Shameless,” ABC’s “Modern Family” and Universal’s “The King of Staten Island” have only served to reinforce VSQ growing popularity.
Today, they are become one of the most popular contemporary string ensembles ever – melding classical with hip-hop, R&B, goth rock, metal. Even the Kate Bush hit “Running Up That Hill” that took “Stranger Things” fans by storm is in their phone book-sized repertory.
VSQ cellist Derek Stein and director of A&R at CMH Label Group James Curtiss say that this “popular kind of consensus” has been a breath of fresh air for the musicians and audiences alike.
“We love when you can hear a few bars of a song and that instant recognition gives the audience that elated, fuzzy feeling,” Stein told Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer in an interview last week.
CMH Label Group, the three-decade-old indie record company based in Los Angeles, works hand-in-hand with “a rotating cast of top string players, arrangers, producers and other creatives” to bring VSQ to life through studio recordings, live performances, videos, sheet music and more.
To date, these renditions have earned VSQ over 2 billion streams, nearly 4 million downloads and over 1 million physical units sold. No less than seven of VSQ’s albums have charted with Billboard, peaking at #4 in both the “Classical” and “Classical Crossover” categories.
They’ve also been on the Grammy awards radar and their full-length album “VSQ Performs Lana Del Rey” was nominated for Best Classical Record in the 2021 Libera Awards.
But the accolades hardly stop there.
One would think having that kind of success that VSQ has had would make a concert “stage translation” easy. Stein and Curtiss both countered the notion. In the 21st century, there are “a lot of factors” to consider taking their show on the road, including keeping the audience engaged.
“Putting together a performance goes beyond picking pieces to play,” Curtiss said. “You want to have an understanding of what’s gonna happen for the performers in rehearsal; you also have to be thinking stage design, lighting, structure and narrative.”
Stein added that the show is “structured into two sets with an intermission” so knowing the arc and “where the peaks and valleys are is important so you don’t wear out the audience.” Because they’re applying pop sensibilities to classical playing, the presentation must match.
“It’s how you keep the audience,” Stein said.
The ensemble appeared onscreen with 30 Seconds to Mars for an episode “MTV Unplugged,” as well as in an episode of “Gossip Girl.” They also join the likes of Danny Elfman, Plain White T’s, Korn, and others on “Nightmare Revisited,” the official “The Nightmare Before Christmas” tribute album.
Engaging with select artists and creative forces on a “full-album basis” doesn’t hurt, either. It has also delivered a multigenerational audience to their front door. Folks like Swift, Lana Del Rey, Björk, Sigur Rós and Studio Ghibli have paved inroads for the group that might not otherwise have arrived.
As a result, their discography (number of albums released) is mountainous: over 300 releases, with full album devotionals to Pink Floyd, Radiohead, Kanye West, Adele, Bon Iver, Lady Gaga, Michael Jackson, Paramore, Coldplay, Green Day, Foo Fighters and more.
To that end, some VSQ renditions end up being quartet favorites.
“Time approved, travel tested pieces of music are usually the ones that make the set,” Curtiss said.
“We’re always looking for something that might not be instantly recognizable that, when it is identified, the audience will want to sing along to,” Stein added.
“That’s always one of the greatest experiences we have taking this thing out on the road and putting it up on a stage. Because you can feel that connection,” he added.
“There was just so much buzz around [the Taylor Swift] release, that when we starting to go out and try to pitch the tour, a lot of the booking agents really responded to the repertoire,” Curtiss said.
“VSQ is very tuned in to what music is popular and what music is affecting people in the world,” Stein added, pointing to the unit’s 25-plus-year history of immersing itself in pop culture.
“We are capable of such a quick turnaround when a song is blowing up that we can have a classical arrangement ready for it pretty quickly.”
Stein said that he and his fellow musicians Rachel Grace (Violin 1), Wynton Grant (Violin 2) and Tom Lea (Viola) love the challenge of turning music that is so instantly identifiable on its ear.
“The challenge of playing pieces in a way that honors their initial style, while also becoming our style, is a pretty big thrill,” Stein said.
“And sometimes that comes with people who aren’t dialed into the popular bent of classical music,” he added. “Winning them over ends up being a big part of the fun.”
The University of Akron’s E.J. Thomas Performing Arts Hall at 198 Hill St, Akron hosts the Vitamin String Quartet this Thursday, October 24 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available by visiting uakron.edu/ej.
