The Terra String Quartet is the 49th Annual Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition Senior Strings Division Gold Medal and Grand Prize winner. The emerging ensemble based in New York City comprises graduates of the Juilliard School’s prestigious Honors Program and the Manhattan School of Music. We spoke with Amelia Dietrich (violin), Ramón Carrero Martínez (viola), and Harriet Langley (violin) to learn more about the quartet before their return to campus on October 30, 2022, for their Presenting Series debut.
How did the quartet meet/form?
Amelia: Harriet and I met on the first day of orientation during our Masters at Juilliard. It became clear that we both shared an unbelievable passion for chamber music and both envisioned our lives in a string quartet. We reformed the quartet during the pandemic and were lucky enough to find some incredible colleagues who share the vision of a life in chamber music! Representing five continents, our international group got our name from the Latin origin of the Earth itself — Terra.
Does the quartet have a shared favorite or memorable performance thus far?
Amelia: One of our most memorable performance experiences was actually on the stage at The Fischoff Chamber Music Competition. Right before the competition, we were feeling a bit overwhelmed with our schedules and finding enough time and the right headspace for competition preparation. We sat in Harriet’s living room and made a pact that if we were going to compete, we were going to let the moment inspire us and stay true to who we were musically.
We were worried about the “competition” aspect seeping into our playing and subsequently became obsessed with this unachievable perfection. However, in every round, we walked on stage and felt genuinely inspired to be on stage with each other and felt free to try new things, humor one another, and get inside the composers’ vision. We continue to talk about it all the time that some of our favorite performances came from that weekend at Fischoff because we felt like we were able to be genuine on stage. We aspire to that every time we walk on stage now.
How do you stay motivated throughout a demanding season, especially during the Fischoff Double Gold Tour?
Ramón: I stay motivated by performing pieces that I really love and with people that I love to play with. On this double gold tour, the Terra String Quartet is performing some of my favorite pieces in all of the quartet repertoire — Haydn Op. 77, No.1 is one of my favorite Haydn quartets, Beethoven Op. 59, No. 3 is my favorite middle quartet hands down and Debussy is such an incredible piece of music with a breathtaking third movement. Knowing that we will be performing in all of these concerts and outreach performances for so many people gives me a lot of motivation that many people will be hearing us and enjoying the music the way we do as well.
What’s the most enjoyable part of playing an instrument? The most challenging?
Ramón: The most enjoyable part of playing an instrument for me is the effect that music has on people — seeing someone happy or having these rollercoasters of emotions while we perform is what gives me the most joy while I play my viola. The most challenging part would definitely be the high technical demand in the music world nowadays, you have to be very consistent in your practicing. We practice every day for hours until we reach a certain level. When you reach that level, you never really stop practicing or learning but for me, it is still well worth it because of the incredible effect that music can have on people.
What musicians have inspired or influenced your music the most and why?
Harriet: We receive a tremendous amount of inspiration from mentors of ours that we are lucky enough to work with. Many of them are in quartets we have long admired, such as the American String Quartet and the Brentano Quartet. Getting to play for them, listening to their recordings, attending their concerts, and sometimes collaborating with them has been an endless source of knowledge and inspiration for us. We turn to them often for guidance and love picking their brains about music, travel, life … anything, really!
What musicians/genres are you listening to on repeat?
Harriet: Between the four of us, we like many different genres of music, but we especially have a shared love for jazz. We are lucky that we live in New York, where we have access to some of the best jazz venues and musicians, some of whom are our friends and former classmates!
We want to thank Amelia, Harriet, and Ramón for taking the time to answer our questions! See the Terra String Quartet perform in the LaBar Recital Hall at the O’Neill Hall of Music on October 30, 2022!
