By Nancy Plum

Founded a mere eight years ago, the Ivalas Quartet has dedicated its young history to enhancing the classical music world with “voices less known and sometimes unheard.” Through innovative programming, violinists Reuben Kebede and Tiani Butts, violist Marcus Stevenson, and cellist Pedro Sánchez seek to “bring all kinds of audience members together in musical celebration.” The Ivalas Quartet brought both the familiar and a bit of the new to Richardson Auditorium last Thursday night as the opening event of the Princeton University Summer Chamber Concerts series. Presenting works of Franz Joseph Haydn and Maurice Ravel, as well as a commissioned piece, the Ivalas musicians demonstrated a refreshing and youthful performing style.

The Ivalas players established an immediate rapport with the Richardson audience with a work from Haydn’s last set of string quartets. Composed at a transitional time after the death of Mozart and as Beethoven was emerging as a force with which to be reckoned, Haydn’s String Quartet in G Major, Op. 77, No. 1 drew from both composers. The Ivalas Quartet emphasized the fun in Haydn’s four-movement work, with light and saucy playing and a great deal of contrasts in dynamics while not shying away from virtuosic demands. Highlighting the extensive conversation among the instruments, the four players jelled well together, often led by first violinist Kebede’s lyrical solo lines.

The second movement “Andante” was marked by a reverent harmonization of the opening theme, with the rich lower cello playing of Sánchez contrasting with Kebede’s heavily ornamented violin passages. Violist Stevenson continually maintained solid communication with the others, and the Quartet closed Haydn’s work in dramatic fashion.

Commissioned from American composer Derrick Skye, the one-movement Deliverance was a “transcultural” string quartet, blending Persian classical melodic material with rhythmic elements from West and North Africa. Skye made particular use of the Persian musical “koron” — a quarter-tone device which gave the music a distinctive flavor.

Skye’s Deliverance began with violinists Kebede and Butts playing the Persian-inspired lines with a very dry tone, later warming up the sound with vibrato. The piece eventually took off with a number of musical surprises, including the players providing their own percussion accompaniment using their instruments. Sections of varied meters flowed seamlessly together, with an effective ebb and flow of tension. Second violinist Butts provided a reverent melody in tranquil sections. Violist Stevenson and cellist Sánchez also played rich passages, adding to the character of a work fusing the uniqueness of Persia with counterpoint inspired by Palestrina and Bach.

Early 20th-century French composer Maurice Ravel claimed his music to be “complexe mais pas compliqué” —complex but not complicated. Known for his rich and colorful orchestral writing, Ravel only composed one string quartet, while as a student at the Paris Conservatory. The four-movement String Quartet in F Major was uncomplicated in its classical structure, but complex in its counterpoint and impressionistic harmonies. The Ivalas Quartet opened Ravel’s work with clarity as homophonic measures led to elegant viola and cello phrases. Fast and furious pizzicato playing dominated the second movement, with solid adherence to Ravel’s marking of trés rythmé. An introspective middle section in this movement featured offbeat rhythms and a lyrical solo from first violinist Kebede.

Stevenson carried the third movement with a flowing viola line, answered by first violin. As throughout the Quartet, the players were noticeably responsive to one another. The Ivalas musicians focused on the agité character of the movement, trading melodies among the instruments and bringing out the storminess of Ravel’s writing.

Now in its 58th season, Princeton University Summer Chamber Concerts has long provided high-quality chamber music at no cost to listeners. Introducing the Ivalas Quartet to Princeton not only met this mission, but also gave audiences a look at an ensemble sure to have a significant impact in the future.

Princeton University Summer Chamber Concerts continues on Wednesday, July 2 at 7:30 p.m. at Richardson Auditorium with a performance by the Bennewitz Quartet. This concert will feature music of Haydn, Janácek, and Dvorák. Tickets are free to the public and are available starting a week ahead of the concert from the University ticketing website at tickets.princeton.edu.