Sybarite 5

 

 

Sybarite 5 

McPherson Opera House

McPherson, KS

By Lydia Lowe

(photos by Bob Hunter)

      I wasn't quite sure what to expect from the group Sybarite 5, who entertained the crowd on Saturday night at the McPherson Opera House. I'm not a big fan of stringed instruments. A lot of the music that stringed groups play are the masters; Bach Beethoven, Mozart, etc. It's more orchestra and stuffy. None of those words describe Sybarite 5.

     This group brings a fresh perspective to the world of stringed instruments. These group met when they traveled from their homes to the Aspen Music Festival. Three are from the United States, one hails from Newfoundland and the other from Argentina. Somehow, these five individuals from different countries and different world views meshed and found common ground through music. Then together as a group they began playing on the streets of Aspen, eventually forming Sybarite 5.

 

     The audience heard a couple of selections from Argentine composer Astor Piazzolla‘s tango-inspired music,  a bluesy tune by Dan Visconti entitled Black Bend, several tunes done with a classical twist that were written by the British group Radio Head, including Paranoid Android, Weird Fishes, and No Surprises. When the group returned to do an encore they joked before playing the tune that no concert is complete without a Led Zepplin tune. The audience laughed and bassist, Louis Leavitt responded with a vague reference to another Mozart tune. Then the joke was on the audience when Sybarite 5 did indeed play a classical arrangement of Heartbreaker by Led Zepplin tune.

     Sybarite 5 consists of Sami Merdinian and Sarah Whitney, violinists; Angela Pickett, violist; Laura Metcalf, cello; and Louis Levitt, bassist. This is string music that rocks! 

Check out the video for Heartbreaker by Led Zepplin: here