The Alexander String Quartet visited Associate Professor of Philosophy Laura Redeihs’ Symbolic Logic course for the first time on Oct. 23 in the Underground. The Alexander String Quartet includes two violinists, Zakarias Grafilo and Frederick Lifsitz, a viola player, Paul Yarbrough, and a cello player, Sandy Wilson.

The group has visited Redeihs’ classes in the past, but never before have they visited her Symbolic Logic class. As a flute player, she was excited for this opportunity and began thinking of ways to compare the structure of logical reasoning with musical structure. She said, “I wondered whether there might be a way to mirror the structure of a logic proof in music, and so I decided to try to translate a logic proof into a string quartet.”

Redeihs worked out the hardest logic proof in the logic book for her course and converted it into a musical composition. She said, “my tentative hypothesis is that if you make the right musical choices for how to map a given proof into a musical structure, it is always possible to make any proof sound reasonably good.”

When the string quartet was invited to the Underground to perform the piece for Redeihs and her Symbolic Logic students, the composition sounded artistic and harmonious. It was an exciting moment for Dr. Rediehs to explore the space where logic and music converge.

Campus members continued working with the Alexander String Quartet throughout the week as the Laurentian Singers prepared for their performance with them on Oct. 25 in Gulick Theatre. It was a great experience for the Laurentian Singers. Abbie Hale ’19, a senior for the Laurentian Singers who sang a solo piece during the performance, said, “I have always enjoyed going to the Alexander String Quartet concerts when they visit campus and I was very honored to be able to perform with them! They are not only great musicians but great people.”

The Laurentian Singers beautifully performed “Metamorphoses,” composed by Paul Siskind.  The piece included the artistic idea of using every part of the instrument by having the musicians banging and knocking on the wood of their instruments at times.  

Hale said, “my takeaway from this experience is quoting Paul Siskind. He said something along the lines of ‘during performances, there are always going to be wrong notes and slip-ups here and there- you shouldn’t dwell on these mistakes but push through. The most important thing is not the individual notes but the music and the feeling it conveys.’”

Matthijs van Mierlo ’19 had a similar positive experience working with the Alexander String Quartet. He said, “singing with the Alexander String Quartet was an amazing experience. It is rare for a college choir to collaborate with a world-class string quartet. The Laurentian Singers were extremely fortunate to sing with them this past week, and we learned to work together towards a common goal.” He continued, “Paul Siskind’s input helped us shape his piece in a way that he always envisioned it, and I think we all did a great job singing and playing it in last week’s concert!”

SLU enjoyed a wonderful week with the Alexander String Quartet. Laurentians excitedly welcomed the talented musicians into both the classroom with Redeihs and extracurriculars with the Laurentian Singers.