Generally speaking, classical music doesn’t give audiences all that much to look at. The back of a conductor’s neck. The right elbow of the concert master. Maybe a head popping over the top of a standing bass. It’s really about listening.
, by contrast, is a visual jolt. The all-female string quartet is known for bouncing across the stage, hair flying, bows flailing. There are high heels and miniskirts in the mix, sometimes even a little smoke on stage.
And in the center of things: a beat-happy DJ, doing his own thing by layering on additional tracks that pump up the energy.
For sure, Spinphony knows how to take classical seriously; the players are all conservatory-trained. But it has a good bit of fun, too. Both the music and the members are — dare I say it? — kind of sexy, and that’s not something you say often when talking about string ensembles.
This isn’t everyone’s cup of classical. The group plays Vivaldi and Bach, but mashes it into the pop sounds of and . One video has it ripping through Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir.”
But a few years in, the Denver-based group is sailing along, booking four or five jobs — mostly corporate gigs — across the country each month. They play a rare public concert in town Tuesday night at .
“We would never put down the symphony or say what we’re doing is better or more important,” said violinist Brett Omara. “But we do realize audiences have changed from a hundred years ago.”
Spinphony’s players make the most of both worlds. All four — also including Anna Morris on violin, Michaela Borth on viola and Hillary Flowers on cello — earn the bulk of their living playing in orchestras, like the freelance ensembles that accompany the Colorado Ballet and Opera Colorado. All four play in , one of the region’s best chamber groups.
But they mess with the music in novel ways, writing through lines that connect old and new. Omara calls the style “pop baroque.”
“We never want to lose those classical roots,” said Omara, who attended the Manhattan School of Music. “There are a lot of string quartets out there playing nothing but and we don’t want to be that.”
So, they can, and do, handle straightforward renditions of “The Four Seasons,” but they might let a little tango slip into the act. For traditional jobs, they skip the jewelry and cover their arms. Spinphony has space for cowboys boots, plunging necklines, sequins, choreography, clever arrangements and, in a genre that emphasizes teamwork, a fair amount of individuality and free association.
“We don’t really even rehearse,” said Omara. “We’ve become performers by performing, not by practicing or thinking things through that much.”
Ray Mark Rinaldi: 303-954-1540, rrinaldi@denverpost.com or twitter.com/rayrinaldi
SPINPHONY
Eclectique Tuesdays at Lannie’s presents the contemporary string quartet. 7 p.m. Tuesday, Lannie’s Clocktower Cabaret , on the 16th Street Mall at Arapahoe Street. $10. 303-293-0075 or lannies.com
