The DragonBoot Quartet, a group of four young women currently studying at the Juilliard School of Music, presented a lively and diverse program that included a world premiere by a Sarasota native for an April 12 program presented by Artist Series Concerts of Sarasota.

The ensemble, featuring Cate Carson (violin), Katya Moeller (violin), Sydney Whipple (viola), and Lila Holyoke (cello), performed works by Haydn, Jessie Montgomery, Leoš Janáček, Beethoven, Caroline Shaw and a premiere of a new work by Roger Zare, who grew up in Sarasota.

The most anticipated moment of the afternoon came with the premiere of Roger Zare’s “Gamma for string quartet.” He was Artist Series’ first scholarship competition winner and has written pieces for the Sarasota Orchestra, among others. His inclusion in the DragonBoot program highlighted Artist Series’ commitment to facilitating new work and supporting young artists. 

Musicians are no stranger to basic math (note subdivisions are, after all, fractions), but “Gamma” artfully adds onto the existing harmony between the two fields. Though it focuses on the mathematical rather than scientific definition of the word, this musical adaptation is no less energetic. Here, ‘gamma’ refers to a mysterious number between the natural logarithm function and harmonic numbers.

To depict this musically, Zare converted gamma’s numbers to pitches in a haunting melody, introduced in the initial slow section by the first violin. Additionally important to the concept of “Gamma” are harmonic numbers, expressed in the inclusion of harmonics – higher tones or “extra notes” that divide the instrument’s strings by halves, thirds, and quarters. Their presence creates an alien, otherworldly sound, portrayed beautifully by the musicianship of the quartet. 

The structure of “Gamma” is also organized fractionally. The opening slow section is the longest in the piece. The second is half the length of the first. The third, a third of the length of the first. And so on. And while musically genius, this particular idea was a bit bittersweet when the final note echoed through the First Presbyterian Church much sooner than we would have liked.

The ensemble, whose name was suggested by the group’s coach after a particularly fierce rehearsal of the first piece on the program: Haydn’s String Quartet in B Minor, appeared in striking color-coordinated red and black. It was immediately apparent that the members of this quartet are not only brilliant musicians, but the best of friends. With beautifully nuanced communication, interdependent movements, and plenty of expression, DragonBoot’s performance of the Haydn could easily have been the poster child for cohesive ensemble playing. According to Whipple, this was the first piece they learned together, and it shows. 

Each piece further expanded on this musicianship. Montgomery’s “Voodoo Dolls” and Shaw’s “Three Essays” brilliantly complemented “Gamma” with drumming, syncopation, and atonal harmonies creating unexpected sounds. The risqué backstory behind Janáček’s “Intimate Letters” presented a rather colorful piece of music. And Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 16 was a thoughtful and introspective display of artistry throughout, especially in its stunning third movement, which Carson referred to as “one of the most beautiful pieces of music ever.” Here, the group’s musicianship is breathtaking as they gracefully lift the notes off the page and hand them off to each other. 

Of course, there were brilliant individual stand-out moments too. Moeller almost never needed to look at her score. Carson sprinted her way through the sixteenth-notes in movement four of the Haydn not even looking like she broke a sweat. Holyoke had a cool moment in the Shaw where she created a unique effect by combining pizzicato with drumming on her cello. And Whipple starred in the Janáček, with high shimmering melodies and an effect called ponticello (creating a screeching effect by playing high on the bridge of the instrument). Judging by this Sarasota performance, the fine musicians in the DragonBoot quartet have a phenomenal career with many years of music-making ahead of them.