Today we’d like to introduce you to Mint String Quartet.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
We founded Mint String Quartet at the very beginning of 2021 within the halls of The UNCG School of Music. MSQ’s story began when we first became close friends within the program- and then realized we could put our skills to good use together to form what we now call Mint String Quartet.
At the time, the school of music was eerily quiet during the height of the Covid-19 times, so we basically only had each other to really play with. Then, as life began amping up again, we quickly realized that we had something of value to offer to the community, so we started branding MSQ.
Now, we’re coming to a really nice balance of business, outreach, and community building. MSQ is built not only to bring life to events but for creating connections within the community through the means of musical outreach and accessibility efforts.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There’s an old saying within the musical community, “A quartet is harder than a marriage”. Which, of course, we at first rolled our eyes at, but ultimately found truth in.
It’s one thing to play together and enjoy the music, and an entirely different experience to run a business with your best friends. We’ve been in a lot of high-stress situations together to prepare for performances, and the preparation process is rigorous and tiring. But, at the end of the day, we truly believe that the friendship and trust we have works as an advantage to our sound.
With certainty, no musician has had a struggle-free road, especially amidst the pandemic. Performance and rehearsal are inherently social things, and musicians everywhere lost a lot. For MSQ, there were times we could not even find a space we were allowed to rehearse in, let alone perform.
We feel lucky to have mentors to work with that can guide us in navigating these circumstances.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Mint String Quartet is a highly skilled and versatile group of musicians who are committed to providing an engaging and approachable experience in all musical endeavors. Our mission is to bring accessibility to classical instruments and classical music in a non-traditional manner.
As ‘classical musicians’ in the 21st century, we recognize that we must forge our own path and take initiative to innovate the field we’re in. We love interacting both within and outside the music community, we’ve not only gotten opportunities to work with other artists such as the Sphinx Virtuosi, The Lark Ensemble, and ASTA artists, but we also put an emphasis on school and free concert outreach.
Something we’re proud of is the commitment we have to MSQ- we are all full-time students and have additional jobs, but MSQ remains a priority to us. We value the constant initiative that it takes for small businesses to thrive.
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
Something that makes Mint String Quartet unique is that we come from very different influences and backgrounds. We are all originally from different states, and all have landed here together.
Hanna grew up with a wide variety of influences: Listening to Eritrean music with her parents, the range of her 5 older siblings’ music, to finding her love for the cello in 6th grade. Like Hanna, Gracie and Kyra also found musical influence from their parents- Kyra grew up with rock musicians for parents, and Gracie diversified her playing style by playing with her dad’s blues band.
On the other hand, Andrew was born to a military family and had the unique experience of having new violin teachers every year due to moving, but stuck with it for the love of the instrument. One thing the musicians of MSQ have in common is that we all found possibilities for our instruments beyond the typical- to which Kyra says “viola, while seen as a classical instrument, could be anything that I wanted it to be.”
Contact Info:
- Email: MStringQuartet@gmail.com
- Website: mintstringquartet.com
- Instagram: @mintstringquartet
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MintStringQuartet
Image Credits
Adliv Collective – First photo (Woman playing violin)
