Finding Comfort in the Quartet

by Debbie Buck 

"performances have provided a creative 
distraction from a rather worrying time in my life."

It has been an especially pleasurable beginning to the Lark Quartet’s fall season of rehearsals and concerts. This time around, what strikes me as a very different experience, is that this past six weeks of rehearsals and performances have provided me with a creative distraction from a rather worrying time in my life. (I have had close family challenged by health issues.) Whether it has been our slow and careful tuning for intonation, or ideas shared about color, character, and blend, the string quartet rehearsal process continues to allure me. It may be a tad funny to admit that there is nothing I find more challenging than string quartet work. In such a constructive and gratifying way, the ensemble challenges have whisked my mind off to a very creative and focused place for many hours of the day.

The Lark Quartet with fan Clint Macgowan 
at the Heritage Concert.

At our first concert of the season at the Heritage Village Concert Society series in Connecticut, we performed for the first time Haydn’s String Quartet Op. 20/2. I cannot recollect another performance where I felt in such a true way, the sensation of being both an engaged participant as well as audience member. I believe that my realization of what the quartet experience was actually doing for me, made me much more aware of being in the now. This is something I hope I will remember for years to come. Being present in the moment despite our life issues is a valuable goal!

Maybe the bottom line here is that I feel lucky and grateful for my experience in this quartet. I know over the years it will continue to serve as a beautiful way to spend my life, especially with such fabulous women: Kathryn, Carrie, and Basia.

Deborah Buck - Violinist of the Lark String Quartet