Marian Anderson String Quartet pays tribute to its groundbreaking musical namesake

The Marion Anderson String Quartet play instruments on the grass

The Escondido-bound quartet from Texas is bringing its `On Being Enslaved’ concert tour to California Center for the Arts, Escondido

By Beth WoodContributor

April 30, 2023 6 AM PT

The Marian Anderson String Quartet is unlike other chamber ensembles in some key ways. It’s named after a brilliant singer who became an iconic figure in the civil rights movement. Besides musical excellence, the quartet has been devoted to creating new and diverse audiences for the past 33 years.

MASQ’s members are African American women, but what also sets them apart are their concert programs. Interspersed with the classical pieces they play is conversation.

“One of the things I love about being in this quartet is that we don’t just stand on the stage, make beautiful music and walk away,” said violist Diedra Lawrence, who cofounded the group in 1990. “We want to connect. There’s always a spoken component in our concerts. We talk about ourselves, and we talk about the program.”

One important topic the group’s members discuss is their trailblazing namesake.

In 1924, Marian Anderson became the first African American to sign with RCA Victor Records. A year later, the versatile contralto was the first to solo with the New York Philharmonic. In 1939, the Daughters of the American Revolution refused to let Anderson perform at the DAR-owned Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. Instead, she became the first Black artist to perform a solo concert at the Lincoln Memorial. It drew an integrated audience of more than 75,000 people, an unprecedented achievement.

In the 1950s, she began stipulating her concerts be open to Black and White attendees at a time when racial segregation was still widespread. In 1955, Anderson — considered to be one of the finest singers of her time — became the first African American to sing a leading role at the Metropolitan Opera. She was 60 years old.

Lawrence and MASQ’s first violinist, Marianne Henry, founded the string quartet — under another name — and entered the 1991 International Cleveland Quartet Competition. It became the first African-American ensemble in history to win a U.S. classical music competition.

The quartet then asked and received permission from Anderson to use her name as its moniker.

“We have at least two or three people at every concert tell us a story about Marian Anderson,” said MASQ second violinist Nicole Cherry. “We get to experience amazing synergy with the audience. Her shoes are definitely huge to fill, but that’s our goal.”

The Marion Anderson String Quartet will perform May 3 in Escondido.

Emotionally charged

The Marian Anderson String Quartet will present “On Being Enslaved” at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido, on Wednesday.

Lawrence conceived the project when she realized the musical selections, if placed in a certain order, would create a historical narrative. The title is from the second movement of the opening piece and wasn’t chosen to provoke a charged response.

“As emotionally charged as the subject matter is, there is a cool-headed, observational quality about the title,” Lawrence explained. “The title is a literal description of a very specific experience.

“The term people used to use was ‘being a slave.’ But it’s not about being a slave. It’s about being a person who has been enslaved. I think that’s an intelligent wording.”

American folk musician Rhiannon Giddens’ “At the Purchaser’s Option with Variations” will begin the concert here. It was inspired by the account of a young Black girl standing on the A slave block with a child in her arms.

“She is for sale, and the child is available at the purchaser’s option,” Lawrence explained. “This is where the heart story starts — the initial trauma. And then we move onto the road to freedom through ‘Follow the Drinking Gourd,’ which is the next piece on the program.”

From there, the songs — written or arranged by White and Black composers — follow a historical progression. Two were commissioned by the quartet and dedicated to Anderson. The second-to-last piece is Dvorák’s famous “American” string quartet.

“When Dvorák was (in the U.S.), on vacation with his family, he heard Native American songs and Negro spirituals,” Lawrence said. “He got excited because he thought that this was the foundation of truly American music. He wrote the piece based on the sounds he heard. This shows the whole universality of the program.”

Deep in the heart of Texas

Based in College Station, Texas, the quartet includes Cherry, co-founders Lawrence and Henry, and cellist Prudence McDaniel, the newest member, who joined in 2002. Lawrence and Henry met as students at the Manhattan School of Music, which McDaniel attended at a different time. Cherry is a graduate of New York’s Juilliard School.

In 2006, they established the Marian Anderson String Quartet Community Music School and the summer-only Community Music Institute. They ran both until 2015, when they decided on a different direction.

The quartet expanded their touring and community outreach across the country, in keeping with the goal of creating new and diverse audiences, in the spirit of Anderson.

“The fact that we have a mission keeps us devout,” Cherry noted. “We believe that we can help foster and grow with this mission and continue to honor our namesake’s outstanding legacy.”

Lawrence agreed.

“It’s a beautiful thing to experience 33 years together,” she said. You need that kind of devotion, dedication, and commitment to an idea and to an artistic purpose.”

That doesn’t mean the four women take each other too seriously. During concerts, the audience might detect a little mischief while the musicians introduce themselves.

“After 33 years, we’ve all heard each other’s stories,” Lawrence said. “We love adding a little twist that the other three have never heard before. That way we keep perpetually refreshing our experiences with each other.”

Wood is a freelance writer.