National Coffee Day
September 29
I like a man in uniform:
Well-Strung* is a singing string quartet of gay men based
in NYC. They blend vocals and strings in a fusion of classical music and
pop, performing Vivaldi, Bach and Ravel with generous sides of Pink,
Britney Spears, Adele and Ke$ha. Says Chris Marchant (in tank top,
above), “One of our aims is to blur the line between high and low art.”
In addition to musical offerings, the quartet dishes up anecdotes about
growing up gay, infusing an atmosphere of a cabaret act. The group, founded in 2012, released a third album, Under the Covers, in 2018.
* that name is marketing genius!
Photo above, from left: Edmund Bagnell (1st violin), Trevor
Wadleigh (viola), über-hunky Chris Marchant (2nd violin), and Daniel
Shevlin (cello) perform all across the country and tour internationally, including the Vatican. They played at a gala for Barack Obama and wrote Chelsea's Mom for Hillary Clinton.
As indicated by the photo below, Marchant divides his time between working out and making music.
The above photo, of course, is for educational purposes only.
Below, we have a performance video, featuring a mash-up between Welsh composer Karl Jenkins (Palladio) and New Zealander Lorde (Royals). Note from your blogger -- watch out for the mixolydian mode (flatted seventh scale) used by Lorde in Royals.
Fine stuff. There is no substitute for talent.
