Tuesday night, the Rudder Forum at the heart of Texas A&M’s campus hosted the renowned string quintet Sybarite5.
With classical instruments in hand, the group performed pieces ranging from folk music to tango-inspired numbers to the stylings of famous rock bands.
Sybarite5 loves to interact with the audience and show them something they’ve never seen before, according to violinist Sami Merdinian.
“Ninety-five percent of what we play, it’s almost guaranteed that they’ve never heard it before so it’s a great way of presenting something new,” Merdinian said.
After being together for 10 years, the quintet has presented a variety of genres, blending tangos, folk music and rock arrangements while staying true to their classical foundation, Merdinian said.
“We do some rock and we do a lot of commissions but we are all classically-rooted so we all come from a traditionally classical background,” Merdinian said.
Biomedical sciences freshman Aimee Phan-Dong said she had never been to an orchestra concert before and was intrigued by the performance.
“I’ve only ever heard [Sybarite5] in videos so I’m excited to see how it is live,” Phan-Dong said.
Attendee Stacey Clark said the performers were just as engaging and enjoyable as the music.
“[The performers] were very intriguing and enjoyable to watch and they seemed to enjoy what they were doing as well, which made it even better,” Clark said. “Overall, the performance was excellent and there weren’t any dull moments.”
While performing is one of the more obvious pleasures of touring, experiencing each new place is also part of the fun, Merdinian said.
“We have so far visited 43 out of the 50 states so we have a few to go but it’s always fun to visit new places,” Merdinian said. “Hopefully we come back and get to spend a little more time getting to know all the things that the university and the town has to offer.”