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SAINT JOHN, N.B. – The Saint John String Quartet invites audiences to experience music through a new lens with Watch This!, a Symphony NB Virtuoso Series program bringing together classical masterworks, contemporary experimentation and a new multidisciplinary creation by New Brunswick artists. Three concerts take place in Moncton, Saint John and Fredericton, on October 2, 4, and 5, 2026, respectively.
The program opens with Jörg Widmann’s String Quartet No. 3, Hunt (Jagdquartett), an intensely physical work that turns the quartet into a theatrical pursuit. Haydn’s String Quartet in B minor, Op. 33, No. 1, follows with the wit, elegance and lively musical conversation of the Classical era.
Pamela Z’s Attention introduces multimedia, voices, samples and technology, inviting audiences to consider the many ways we listen, watch and divide our attention.
The concert culminates with Tether: New Brunswick Resonance, a new collaboration between Composer Emily Kennedy, visual artist Graeme Patterson and writer Gemma Marr, performed live by the Saint John String Quartet. Combining music, textile-based stop-motion
animation and storytelling, the work reflects on the relationships between people and New Brunswick’s landscapes and seascapes.
Inspired by the Bay of Fundy’s tidal cycle, Kennedy shapes the score around the movement of the ocean: the quartet’s individual lines intertwine and swell before gradually receding like water from the shore. Patterson’s abstract textile forms, animated in a style inspired by experimental film of the 1960s, evoke the province’s natural rhythms through colour, shape and texture. Marr’s writing explores what it means to be tethered – to place, to patterns, to one another and to
time.
From Widmann’s dramatic physicality and Haydn’s musical dialogue to Pamela Z’s multimedia world and the immersive landscapes of Tether, Watch This! invites audiences to experience the string quartet with both ears and eyes.
Program
Jörg Widmann – String Quartet No. 3, Hunt (Jagdquartett)
Joseph Haydn – String Quartet in B minor, Op. 33, No. 1
Pamela Z – Attention
Emily Kennedy / Graeme Patterson / Gemma Marr – Tether: New Brunswick Resonance
Acknowledgement
The creation of Tether: New Brunswick Resonance is supported by artsnb, the New Brunswick Arts Board.
For tickets or information about the Virtuoso Series, CLICK HERE.
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About the Saint John String Quartet
The Saint John String Quartet is a professional chamber ensemble presenting repertoire from the classical tradition to contemporary music, new commissions and interdisciplinary collaborations. Its performances and community activities bring chamber music to audiences throughout New Brunswick.
About Symphony NB
Established in 1983, Symphony NB operates the province's only full-scale, full-season professional orchestra. Under the direction of Music Director Mélanie Léonard since 2021, Symphony NB has proven itself to be better than ever, scaling new heights of musical
excellence.
In addition to a broad range of outreach initiatives, it presents two series of concert tours annually. The Signature Series comprises six programs featuring the full orchestra, while the Virtuoso Series consists of seven concert tours in association with three of the province’s
leading professional chamber music ensembles: the Saint John String Quartet, the wind quintet Ventus Machina, and Résonance New Music.
Through its versatile programming Symphony NB continues to demonstrate how the work of
symphonic musicians strengthens communities in an increasingly diverse New Brunswick.