The first time The String Queens showed up for a gig as a trio, they were hired by one of their own: Dawn Johnson, the violist, was having a birthday party for her one-year-old daughter. The plan was to play music, says Élise Sharp, the cellist. It was an opportunity to get used to playing with each other before their first high-stakes gig: a wedding the very next day. “But we were having so much fun as girlfriends, just hanging out,” says Sharp, “that we never even opened our cases.”
Johnson, Sharp, and violinist Kendall Isadore had known each other as gigging musicians and teachers — of music and, in Isadore’s case, middle school science, too — in Washington, D.C. Johnson and Sharp had met years before in the Soulful Symphony in Baltimore.
Though they didn’t play a note at the birthday party, they weren’t worried about the wedding. “We thought we’d show up half an hour earlier,” says Sharp, “get the set list, go through the music, and be fine.”
The wedding gig went better than fine. They played Haydn, Mozart, and Handel’s Water Music — music known for pretty melodies, elaborate ornamentation, and comfortable themes and variations, not really for its captivating energy.
But the musicians felt the night was magical. “There was a sound, there was an energy, there was a chemistry — everything kind of melted together,” says Sharp. “We knew that it was something special, something we had to explore. We thought, let this be a career choice.”
The String Queens was born — though it wasn’t until later, in Sharp’s orchestra classroom, that they came up with the name. “The great thing about a bold name,” says Sharp, “is it forces you to live up to it.”
They will perform at Payomet Performing Arts Center in North Truro on Sunday, July 28; the program includes pieces from their whole discography.
The string trio is a less commonly heard combination than the string quartet. In a string quartet, there are two violins, as well as a viola and a cello. In the trio, no instrument is doubled: the violin, viola, and cello are three voices distinct in their roles, each a little lonelier than it would be if there was a fourth musician. But Isadore says, “I’ve never missed the fourth voice.”
In fact, despite having only three players, The String Queens are known for their orchestral sound, says Johnson. “How do three individuals achieve an orchestral sound?” she asks. “Double stops and triple stops.”
Those effects, in which a string player draws the bow over two or three strings at once and with her left hand plays notes on one, both, or all of them, imbue the sound with an almost otherworldly quality. Multiple voices emerge from a single instrument.
“We know when to lead and when to follow,” Johnson continues. All three musicians make sure they are well versed in their scales, etudes, and arpeggios — those elements of technical practice that are necessary to play music of the baroque, classical, and romantic eras, and which also facilitate complicated arrangements, allowing for a sound that is many times bigger than the sum of its parts.
The String Queens’ most recent album, Rise, released in 2022, is a collection of those arrangements: the trio’s take on classics like “Eleanor Rigby” by the Beatles, “Smooth Criminal” by Michael Jackson, and “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” by Aretha Franklin. The Queens use their instruments the way a chef employs “nose-to-tail” cooking: they shimmer and buzz in tremolo, speak clearly in pizzicato, swoop and slide in glissando, or crunch at the frog of the bow, imitating percussion. The violin squeaks and shines, agile as a bird at the top of its range, then dives back down for a richer sound on the lower strings. The viola sings in its unique timbre: mournful, curiously angular, but still warm. The cello is deep and full, supporting the group with resonant continuo lines, dancing when it has the melody and thrumming contentedly in harmony.
Arranging songs is a process that must “begin with genuine interest,” says Johnson. Once they’ve chosen a song, they sing it together. “We understand,” she says, “that at the end of the day, we’re mimicking the sound of the human voice, translated through our instruments.”
Rehearsal recordings are essential. “Sometimes you’re in the moment,” says Sharp, “and it’s like, ‘Oh my gosh, that was amazing.’ Then you hear the recording, and you’re like, ‘That wasn’t as great as I thought it was.’ ”
They make sure every voice is heard and that the arrangement is graceful. The important thing is that they love what they hear — made more important by the fact that many of their arrangements are not written down.
Where a notated composition is a document meant to last, with precisely prescribed instructions and often formal architecture, some arrangements by The String Queens exist only fleetingly, in rehearsal or one ephemeral performance.
One such performance was broadcast by ESPN in 2021, during its coverage of the Wimbledon Championships. The String Queens were commissioned to arrange the song “Golden” by Harry Styles. They had two weeks to compose the piece and film themselves playing it. The affair was a symphony of organized chaos: the trio was busy playing other gigs and being “full-time teachers, wives, mothers, daughters, besties,” says Sharp. They took on the project anyway. Their recording of the arrangement is the only place it exists.
In the final video, the trio wears white: flounces of tulle and drapes of fabric, strings of pearls, frilly collars and lacy sleeves and wrist cuffs. It was cicada season, and swarms of the bugs threatened the musicians. But a viewer would never be able to tell. The String Queens play freely, closing their eyes in rapturous concentration, then opening them to smile at each other.
Bows Drawn
The event: The String Queens string trio performance
The time: Sunday, July 28, 7 p.m.
The place: Payomet Performing Arts Center, 29 Old Dewline Road, North Truro
The cost: $32 to $52 at tickets.payomet.org
