If you’ve seen the hit TV show “Bridgerton,” you’ve likely heard the musical stylings of the Vitamin String Quartet. The group, made up of a rotating cast of classically trained musicians, reimagines pop songs as string instrument covers.
The Vitamin String Quartet has been around for more than 20 years, and its current lineup includes Tom Lea on viola, Wynton Grant and Rachel Grace on violin and Derek Stein on cello.
The group recently kicked off a tour across the U.S. and Europe, covering a lineup of pop hits, from “Bad Guy” by Billie Eilish to Prince’s “Purple Rain”.
“People get to hear their favorite songs in a completely different way,” said Grace. “The happy surprise, I will call it, that you can hear classical instruments play a song that you love, it’s a very unexpected thing.”
Grace also said that the instrumental renditions of these songs often inspire people to sing along. And that’s by design. Stein said the group’s concerts aren’t your typical classical music experience. At live performances, Grace said they urge the audience to interact with the music and have fun.
“We have more fun on stage and, in my opinion, give a better performance if the audience is really into it. Really rowdy. Whooping and hollering,” Stein said.
And the musicians have fun on stage too, playing with smiles on their faces and hyping up the crowd. Grace and Stein said they grew up playing only classical music, but when Stein was a teenager, he started to explore other genres on the cello. Grace said that as she was learning to play, she always imagined she would be a concert violinist.
“You had to play Mozart exactly like it was written. There was only one interpretation,” Grace said. “Compared to what we play now, this music is more raw. You can put your own spin on it. You can have fun with it. If a note is not perfect, it kind of fits into the genre.”
Stein said even when they play the same song live night after night, it always sounds a bit different. The Vitamin String Quartet doesn’t choose its own songs to cover; that’s decided by record companies. But when the group receives an arrangement for a popular song, they can still put their own twist on it.
Released in April, the quartet’s latest album, “VSQ Performs Frank Ocean,” reimagines hits from the singer-songwriter. The track list includes “Chanel,” “Super Rich Kids,” “Novacane” and more.
When the Vitamin String Quartet started adapting Ocean’s “Super Rich Kids,” Grace switched up the melody, which repeats eight times. To make it more interesting as a quartet piece, Grace said she adds in grace notes, slides and embellishments with her violin.
“When someone sings it and you’re trying to emulate vocals, they’re also not singing it straight the entire time. They’re doing vocal inflections and different things,” Grace said. “We’re trying to emulate as much as we can to do that with our own instrument.”
The way culture is trending, Grace said, there’s less of a divide between musical genres, and people are more open and appreciative of musicians who can blend seemingly opposing styles, like pop and classical.
“I am doing it for people who love it,” Grace said. ‘We’re sharing our music and our love for this music with people that love it, and that whole excited feeling gets super amplified.”
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Ashley Locke produced and edited this interview for broadcast with Micaela Rodríguez. Grace Griffin adapted it for the web. Caleb Green tracked and mixed the segment.
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
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