Teacher composes string success

Strathcona String Quartet has plucked a St. Albert composer from obscurity to perform the world premiere of his first composition this coming Saturday at the Edmonton Moravian Church.

And Galen Noland, a piano and harp teacher at Visionary College, couldn't be more delighted.

“I'm so excited I can barely stand it. I just wanted to write music for personal development. To have a piece played publicly, and to have my music received so well is such a thrill,” Noland says.

He has taught for 15 years and wanted to improve his teaching technique by studying composing. He was referred to the award-winning Edmonton composer Malcolm Forsythe. And so began a two-year association that resulted with Noland composing Diablito, a nimble five-minute piece based on a comical, mischievous imp created from the composer's imagination.

“It was my first assignment and I had come in pretty green. I had to learn to write for a different string instrument, the compositional form, textures and how to develop a theme.”

When Forsythe recommended the work to the string quartet, it seemed like an instant marriage. “We liked the dynamic range, soft and loud, and the use of melody travelling throughout all the instruments. Galen uses pizzicato in places and a bow in others. It's very challenging, but I think the audience will love it for its character. Some pieces of music are played once, but I have feeling we won't be the last to play this piece,” says violinist Jennifer Bustin.

Created in 1987, Bustin is the quartet's only remaining founder left. The other musicians include John Calverly (violin), Miriam Ferguson (viola) and Josephine van Lier (cello).

The Saturday concert is a repertoire of contemporary classical music with the exception of Brahms' Quartet No. 1. “We always try to do a classical romantic piece at every concert. This one is very moody and brooding. There's nothing fluffy about it. It's compact and complex.”

George Andrix, a former violin/viola player with the quartet, also debuts his four-movement String Quartet No. I. “It's jazzier, cooler. It's extremely rhythmic. All his work is jazz or blues oriented.”

And finally, the quartet performs Colin Labadie's INEO. “The cool thing is that it's very quiet, high notes that almost never change. While we play, Colin uses an electronic synthesizer so his notes blend with ours.

“In this collection each piece differs. Andrix writes this elegant melody. Brahms is romantic, Colin is stark and Galen is fun.”

Concert is at 8 p.m. Tickets are available online at www.tixonthesquare.ca.