Vitamin String Quartet brings pop, Taylor Swift and ‘Bridgerton’ to Dayton

On its latest tour, “Vitamin String Quartet: The Music of Taylor Swift, ‘Bridgerton,’ and Beyond,” VSQ will be making a stop Oct. 18 at the Victoria Theatre. The show will feature Swift’s music, alongside familiar hits from Billie Eilish, BTS, “Bridgerton,” The Weeknd, and Daft Punk.

The quartet began in 1999 as a way to transform rock and pop songs with classical instruments — violin, viola, and cello. In recent years, there has been a concerted effort to preserve classical music through a modern context by groups like Black Violin and VSQ. But what is it about classical that is worth preserving?

“Something about these instruments just speaks to the human psyche on some level,” said VSQ violinist Wynton Grant. “I think reimagining these songs that are recognizable for people, in a way that is different and fresh, is appealing. It’s an interesting way of bringing the old world into the modern, and not letting things get stale.”

Aside from the cellist, the members of VSQ stand throughout the performance, which brings a different energy than a typical string quartet would. By using DPA mics on the instruments, the audience also hears the sounds of the bows, the sounds of fingers on the fingerboard. Those details shine throughout the performances, as if we get a look at music-making under a microscope.

But because VSQ does have a different approach, despite the members’ collective classical education and upbringings, the music may not be what some purists expect.

“There are areas within classical music that are pretty elitist,” Grant said. “It can be a little snobby and exclusionary, or discredit things that are not purely classical music. Our show challenges their assumptions about what a string quartet can be, and also maybe encourages them to be open-minded to experiencing different things that they might actually end up enjoying.”

By that same token, those who may have no prior experience with classical, or are perhaps in orchestra class and don’t like to be, can be affected in a more positive sense by VSQ’s crossover with pop.

“I would hope that it has renewed interest among the younger generation in classical music, and just expanded their minds that a string quartet or classical music doesn’t have to be hoity-toity or stuffy or inaccessible,” Grant said. “I’ve met a lot of little kids who say, ‘I was gonna quit violin, but I didn’t because my mom wouldn’t let me.’ But then they come see the show and they’re like, ‘This is cool. I don’t have to just play the standard rep.’”

Vitamin String Quartet is currently working on a new record, reinterpretations of songs from the Netflix film, “KPop Demon Hunters.”

This new tour, heavy on Taylor Swift, pulls from a catalog that doesn’t immediately lend itself to string arrangements, apart from the fact that the songs are hooky and recognizable. Grant said the real magic is done by the arrangers, who find new ways to reimagine and translate the songs for the quartet.

“If you have a catchy melody, something that will stick in people’s heads, then that’s a great starting place,” Grant said. “The audience might not understand everything else that’s going on behind it, the accompaniment, but they’ll be able to pick up on that one little sound bite. That will be enough to guide them through.”

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