PSQ's Letter
Portland String Quartet Society’s Winter Newsletter
February 2023
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Welcome!
Hello Friends! And welcome to the second installment of the PSQ's Letter.
This month we hear from Ronald Lantz (Violin) and Laura Kargul (Piano) about how they came to form a duo, how they choose their programs, and the differences between performing as part of a quartet vs. a duo.
Join Lantz and Kargul for a special Valentines Day performance
at Woodfords Church this Sunday.
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One of the most popular concerts of the PSQ season is the Lantz/Kargul Valentine’s Day program. Have you ever wondered how this charismatic duo began playing together and became part of the season’s events?
Pianist Laura Kargul and violinist Ronald Lantz explained recently that they first met at a PSQ concert in Orono, Maine, in 1988. Although neither remembered much about that first meeting, Ron advised Laura of an opening at the University of Southern Maine music department. She was subsequently hired and has been with USM ever since where she is currently Director of Keyboard Studies.
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But it was not until 2009 that they played together for the first time at a PSQ 40th anniversary concert. Laura joined the quartet in a romantic Schumann quintet. The following year when lighter, shorter pieces were needed to round out a PSQ program, Ron and Laura played together for the first time. And they have been playing duos ever since – not only in Maine but in Arizona, Florida, Jamaica and elsewhere. |
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Ron came up with the idea for a Valentine’s Day concert that fit with their romantic Schumann pieces they first played in 2010. Their first Valentine’s Day concert was in 2012 in New Hampshire and the first PSQ concert was in 2015. It has become a PSQ tradition. |
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Pictured: Lantz and Kargul touring a copper mine during an engagement with the Santa Cruz Foundation for the Performing Arts in Arizona. |
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How do they decide what to play? Laura says many pieces just “fall into our laps.” Often friends recommend pieces which was the case for one of their signature pieces by Jacques de la Presle. The Lantz/Kargul repertoire consists of many romantic pieces which require a subtle rubato. Both musicians agree they have an affinity for this kind of music. Their Valentine’s Day concert usually includes a major work and several shorter romantic pieces – “lots of dessert,” according to Laura. |
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Join us for performances and events through June as we celebrate the 54th Season of your Portland String Quartet! |
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Ron recently retired as 2nd violinist and founding member of the Portland String Quartet with over 40 years’ experience playing quartet music. He feels that both duets and quartets have many of the same qualities as any chamber music. However unlike being the second violinist in which each player’s part moves around from solo to accompanying melodies, as a duet partner he has the melody about 75% of the time. “It’s more athletic, more technical, virtuoso and exposed than playing in a quartet.” |
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Pictured: Laura Kargul, Ronald Lantz and the PSQ at a session at the Berkeley recording studios in Boston. |
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When did you first decide to become a professional musician? |
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Ron’s father was a cellist with the Houston Symphony Orchestra and often played Beethoven string quartets at home with fellow musicians. So, Ron grew up listening to classical music as a small child. When he was about 8 years old, he found a violin in a closet and started playing on it for hours. That eventually led to lessons for him and his two brothers, and to playing trios on violin, piano and cello. By the time he was 13, Ron had decided on his future career path as a violinist. |
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Laura said she knew by the age of six that she wanted to become a pianist. She admits that she was very lucky, having grown up in a house with a grand piano in Detroit, known as a musical city. Being somewhat of an introvert among her five siblings, she gravitated to the piano and started composing little pieces and fooling around. After playing at a school concert, an audience member told her mother that Laura had real talent and should start taking lessons with one of Detroit’s finest teachers, Rebecca Frohman. She studied with her new teacher from age 8 to 18 and performed as a concerto soloist with an orchestra at age 13. |
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Pictured: Ron at about age 10 playing in a trio with his brothers |
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Upcoming Concerts
Join us at these upcoming events!
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Lantz/Kargul Valentines Day Concert
Feb. 12th, 2023
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Beethoven - Sonata No. 8 in G, Op. 30 No. 3
William Grant Still - "Mother and Child"
Ralph Vaughan Williams - "The Lark Ascending"
Plus short works by Gluck, Mendelssohn and Piazzola.
Woodfords Church
202 Woodford St, Portland, ME 04103
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PSQ Benefit - Save the date!
Sunday June 4th, 2023
Ferry Beach - Saco, ME
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Sunday June 4, 2023 is the Portland String Quartet Society’s Spring Benefit in Saco. Contact the PSQ to be placed on the mailing list or for further information.
The event will include performances, food and drinks, a silent auction of PSQ memorabilia and more!
All proceeds benefit the PSQ Learning Fund.
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We'd love to hear from you!
In each installment of the PSQ's Letter, we take you behind the scenes, and let you know more about the musicians, the music, and our future plans.
We welcome stories and photos from you as well. Do you remember some incident during a concert? a cruise? a workshop? Just send text and photos to the address below and we’ll include as many as space allows.
What would you like to know? We’ll try to answer your questions in future editions.
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Portland String Quartet Society
www.portlandstringquartet.com
psqsociety@gmail.com
(207) 761-1522
PO Box 11, Portland, ME 04112
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