Utah State University’s Resident Quartet named Utah’s ‘Best Instrumental Group’

Using a sports analogy, it was a three-peat for the Fry Street Quartet when it was named “Best Instrumental Group” in the Performing Arts category in the 2011 Utah Best of State awards.

            Fry Street is the professional string quartet in residence at Utah State University, based in the Department of Music. There, quartet members balance teaching responsibilities while maintaining an active, professional performance schedule. That dual dedication adds luster to the shine of the continuing Best of State honors.

            Members of the Fry Street Quartet include William Fedkenheuer (violin), Rebecca McFaul (violin), Bradley Ottesen (viola) and Anne Francis (cello).

            “We are thrilled and honored to receive this news,” said McFaul. “We’ve made Utah our home, and it means a lot to each of us for this home state organization to bestow this recognition upon us. A goal for us is to continue as vibrant contributors to the cultural life in our home arena.”

            As Robert Coleman wrote in a special piece contributed to the “Salt Lake Tribune” when the quartet presented its monumental Beethoven cycle in 2008, there is much to celebrate in having the Fry Street Quartet in Utah and at Utah State University.

            “Right here under our noses, a Utah string quartet has quietly become a major player in the international chamber music scene,” Coleman wrote. “The Fry Street Quartet has progressed significantly since they came to the state in 2002.”

            The Fry Street Quartet began its residency in USU’s Department of Music in 2002 through a gift of the Marie Eccles Caine Foundation and continues today with the Marie Eccles Caine Foundation–Russell Family.

            “Since that time, the string program at USU has become the premier program for string performance in the Intermountain region,” said Cindy Dewey, interim head of the Music Department. “Only a handful of music programs in the United States can boast of a professional string quartet in residence. That provides amazing opportunities for our students and for arts patrons throughout the region as evidenced once again by this Best of State award.”

            Now in its ninth year, the Utah Best of State awards program acknowledges excellence in an array of industry sectors, including business, entertainment, education, hospitality, retail, technology and sports.

            “We couldn’t be more pleased with the Fry Street Quartet,” said Craig Jessop, dean of the Caine College of the Arts at USU. “It’s an honor for the Caine College of the Arts to have such a dynamic resident quartet. Working in both the professional and academic world, the Fry Street Quartet adds immense value and recognition to our music program and students.”              

            Winners of the 2011 Best of State Awards have been rated or judged on their impact on the community, excellence and achievement and innovation and originality, according to Best of State Chief Executive Officer Dana Layton. Judging for the 2011 awards was hosted by Salt Lake Community College’s Miller Business Resource Center. The independent judging process featured judges with category-specific credentials, and the confidential tabulation was coordinated by an accounting firm.

            The 2011 Best of State honors were presented at an awards gala in Salt Lake City June 4. The Fry Street Quartet and its members were honored with Best of State medals, along with fellow recipients in multiple categories, but for the Fry Street, it was in absentia. The quartet was out of state doing what it does so well — performing.

            On the award’s date, the quartet was featured in a concert at the First Congressional Church in Wellfleet, Mass., but returns to Utah for a free concert in Logan June 8 as part of the Noontime Series at the Tabernacle before heading to the Intermountain Suzuki String Institute in Sandy, Utah. Then it’s off to the Madeline Island Music camp in Bayfield, Wis. That’s just the June schedule.

            Following a summer of presenting workshops and performances, members of the Fry Street Quartet return to the classroom at Utah State University for fall semester.

            “The quartet members have proven themselves not only as fine musicians but successful teachers,” Dewey said. “Their students have had remarkable successes at the national level.”

            Those student successes include a finalist at the 2010 Lions Club International Competition, a finalist at the 2010 Music Teachers National Association — MTNA — National Competition and a regional finalist at the 2011 MTNA National Competition.

            “The Caine College of the Arts is the only undergraduate program in the state with a resident quartet as faculty,” McFaul said. “We believe that arrangement offers unique advantages to our students. A quartet is all about collaboration. We never work in isolation; the program grows through steady consideration, innovation and adjustments.”

            In addition to the active advising provided by members of the quartet to USU students, a creative approach characterizes USU’s string program, McFaul said.

            “Our presence in the performing world affords our students access to our connections and provides a first-hand example of what it means to be a performing artist,” she said. “Conversely, our teaching at USU offers a wonderful base to call home and a place to do our best to make a positive difference in the cultural life of our community.”