Medusa Chamber Folk Quartet

Ken Prue/A Loft Production presents: MEDUSA CHAMBER FOLK QUARTET

FRIDAY JUNE 23, 2023 at 8:00 PM

Venue: Concert Hall at Victoria Hall

Medusa String Quartet- https://www.sisterhoodofmedusa.com/

A unique chamber quartet that brings you traditional music from around the world, with instruments to match! Medusa blends the Western string quartet (violin, viola and cello), with Polish knee fiddles, Greek lira, and Swedish Nyckelharpa. We intertwine the sounds of Middle Eastern, Scandinavian, Celtic, and Eastern European music to create something entirely new. The instruments we play on are incredibly rare in Canada and around the world, our very own band being one of the only places you might hear them. Made up of four musicians both classically trained and immersed in traditional music from different cultures, Medusa brings you a musical experience like no other.

One of the most misunderstood figures in mythology, Medusa has been known for her frightful ugliness, and her lithifying gaze. In fact, Medusa was wrongfully punished and cast out for being the victim of a violent act. The instruments we play, in addition to violin, viola, and cello, are traditional bowed fiddles that were rejected for centuries in their home countries of Poland and Sweden, as their sounds were thought to be too ugly for polite audiences. Our band was formed during the pandemic, a time when the whole world was forced to stop, look within, and shed old skin. Instead of a snake-haired Gorgon, we see Medusa as a symbol of vision, power, and inclusivity, and a source of inspiration for anyone who has been denied their true self.

Medusa made its debut at the Small World Music Festival in 2020, and has since been enthralling and delighting audiences at the BLOK Eastern European Festival (Toronto), the 4elements Living Arts Festival (Manitoulin Island), the Hidden Kingdom Festival (livestream from Bhutan), and the TSO 100th Anniversary Open House at Roy Thomson Hall, among others. We have just finished recording our self-titled EP, and will be doing a Canada-wide EP-release tour in the spring.

Medusa is Georgia Hathaway, Lea Kirstein, Marta Solek, and Saskia Tomkins.

Tickets are $35 plus service fee and available at the Concert Hall Box Office: 855-372-2210