The Santiago String Quartet – Linda Owen, Sandi Rynerson, Patty Hicks and Lisa Santana – filled Refresh on the Mountain with beautiful music on Sunday, Oct. 30. (Photo by Mary-Justine Lanyon)

Bringing folks together through music

By Mary-Justine Lanyon

It was a Sunday afternoon filled with beautiful music.
And that’s just how it should be, according to David Milligan, owner of Refresh on the Mountain, where the concert by the Santiago String Quartet took place.
“This harkens back to the days when people gathered on Sunday afternoon and listened to music,” he said on the afternoon of Oct. 30.
“Music brings us together. It is an important part of wellness.”
The Santiago String Quartet – Linda Owen, violin; Sandi Rynerson, violin; Patty Hicks, cello; and Lisa Santana, viola – presented two pieces: Beethoven’s String Quartet in D major and Dvorak’s String Quartet in D minor.
Before the four women began playing, cellist Patty Hicks explained that this was Beethoven’s first quartet. His later ones, she said, were very different. They sound almost as if they could have been written only 20 years ago. “Beethoven was a visionary,” she said.
Following the Beethoven and a brief intermission, Hicks introduced the Dvorak, explaining that the composer had spent several years in the U.S. He was, she said, the head of what was then the New York Conservatory, now Juilliard.
The two quartets were written about 100 years apart. The Dvorak, Hicks said, has more of a country feel as it uses a lot of Czech folk melodies. The Beethoven, she noted, has a more refined city feel.
Milligan told the audience he has a pianist in mind for a January concert and an organist for February.
For more information on the classes offered at Refresh and upcoming concerts, visit refreshonthemountain.com.