USU's Fry Street Quartet Bridges Art, Science at Special Research Landscapes Presentation

What role can art have in connecting scientific reasoning with an appreciation of the natural world?

This was the focus of a Research Landscapes special presentation, titled “Bridging Worlds: Chamber Music for a Changing Planet.” At the presentation, hosted on March 19 at the O.C. Tanner headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah State’s resident Fry Street Quartet performed the piece “Lek,” inspired by the mating calls of the greater sage grouse.

The Fry Street Quartet is the only endowed quartet at a university in Utah, and one of only a handful in the country, which puts them in a unique position to highlight how research and art enhance each other.

“In our role as ensemble and residents at USU, a land grant university, much of our creative work has reflected an ongoing interest in exploring the intersection of art and nature, and this project brings a bit of science and technology in as well,” said Bradley Ottesen, the violist of the group.

“Lek” was composed by Nicolás Lell Benavides and commissioned by the Fry Street Quartet. The presentation opened with a documentary detailing the process behind writing the piece; journeying into the field to record sage grouse calls and using that as the percussion over which the string quartet plays.

In the piece, one musician plays the role of the female grouse, and the other three represent the three males competing for her attention. They alternate in flashy demonstrations of musical talent, while the “female” offers her judgment before finally selecting a victor.

Following the presentation, Rebecca McFaul, one of the Fry Street Quartet’s two violinists, shared her thoughts on the intersection of research and art.

“Science and music are often seen as separate, but they are both forms of deep listening,” McFaul said.

She also emphasized the importance of using music to communicate and connect people.

“The meaning that emerges is born of this deep listening, this relational attunement,” McFaul said. “It is not born from asserting control or dominance. There is trust and respect involved in making music, and the cycle is completed when we invite all of you, an audience of listeners, to take it in.”

Additionally, McFaul drew the audience’s attention to the challenges facing the greater sage grouse. Since 1965, sage grouse populations have declined by 80 percent, with nearly 40 percent of their decline occurring since 2002. This is due to habitat loss from human expansion, climate change disrupting their food sources and breeding cycles, and conservation efforts being hindered by the demand for economic growth.

“In recognizing that the sage grouse are the real stars of today’s performance, I asked myself what the sage grouse might wish for us humans to hear and contemplate,” McFaul said. “Maybe a simple reminder that they live here too; a reminder that they are our incredible, beautiful, occasionally goofy kin. They call, they dance, they perform their ancient symphony, but the audience, the ecosystem, is disappearing.”

McFaul ended the presentation with an open-ended question.

“What if, in this time of planetary crisis, the most urgent thing we can do is not speak louder, but listen more deeply, with all of our forms of inquiry?” she asked.

Research Landscapes is an event series hosted by the Utah State University Office of Research and sponsored by O.C. Tanner. The series connects decision-makers across the Wasatch Front with the researchers exploring Utah’s land, water and air.

Learn more about past events and RSVP for future events at researchlandscapes.usu.edu.