Medusa quartet plays the Foundry
Date/Time
Location
The Foundry (2 Harris St., West Stockbridge, MA 01266, West Stockbridge MA)
Wielding a sound that would turn classical music scholars to stone, these four awardwinning folk musicians are reimagining the Western string quartet. By inviting back voices previously regarded as too raw for “polite society,” Medusa tempts us to redefine what is beautiful.
Georgia Hathaway, Lea Kirstein, Marta Sołek, and Saskia Tomkins, four seasoned string players, bring collective experience as players in successful bands for decades and weave among them a refuge for natural creation. Their immediate and electrifying connection is transmuted through a common string language, a love of enigmatic and obscure folk fiddles, and their personal stories of navigating society’s liminal spaces.
With their Canadian Folk Music Award (CFMA) Nominated debut album, Medusa’s dynamic arrangement style cross-pollinates the sounds of Middle Eastern, Scandinavian, Celtic, Appalachian, and Eastern European music, as well as original tunes, to create something previously unheard. With this debut release, the band connects audiences across dividing lines of culture and identity to reveal the common threads beneath.
With their debut EP, Medusa’s dynamic arrangement style cross-pollinates the sounds of Middle Eastern, Scandinavian, Celtic, Appalachian, and Eastern European music, as well as original tunes, to create something previously unheard. With this release, the band aims to connect audiences across dividing lines of culture and identity to reveal the common threads beneath.
One of the most misunderstood figures in ancient mythology, Medusa was wrongfully punished and cast out for being the victim of a violent act, but is remembered solely for her frightful ugliness and lithifying gaze. Through their personal narratives of alienation due to racism, sexism, immigration, queerness, and disability, Medusa the band aims to retell this story by bringing back what has been cast out. Marta Solek and Saskia Tomkins resurrect the Suka, the Płosk fidel, and the Nyckelharpa – forgotten folk fiddles with disreputable connotations that were rejected for centuries in their home countries of Poland and Sweden.
Instead of a snake-haired Gorgon, they see Medusa as a symbol of vision, power, and inclusivity, and a source of inspiration for anyone who has been denied their true self.