Groundbreaking string quintet Sybarite 5 comes to The Block

Muskegon, Michigan, January 7, 2018—With an eclectic repertoire from Bowie to Radiohead and Akiho to Assad, the crossover string quintet Sybarite 5—dubbed the “Millenial Kronos”—is turning heads throughout the music world and forever changing the perception of chamber music.

“Their rock star status is well deserved,” enthused the Sarasota Herald Tribune. “Their classically honed technique mixed with grit and all out passionate attack transfixes the audience.”  Comprised of violinists Sami Merdinian and Sarah Whitney, violist Angela Pickett, cellist Laura Metcalf and bassist Louis Levitt, Sybarite 5 has taken audiences by storm all across the U.S.  The group—which Limelight describes as “a string quartet plus double bass for extra heft down below”—appears at The Block at 7:30 p.m. Friday, February 8.

From the moment their bows hit the strings, Sybarite 5 takes the audience on an exciting ride that engages the senses and redefines the rules.  The quintet’s debut album, Disturb the Silence, quickly reached the top ten on the Billboard charts. The follow-up Everything in its Right Place was an entire album of Radiohead covers. Their latest, the 2017 Outliers, features all new works from American composers.  Limelight called it “an addictive album of surprisingly cool string quintets,” noting that “they have almost single-handedly rejuvenated the repertoire, commissioning new works from some of the most interesting voices on the US contemporary music scene.”

With their dynamic view on 21st-century entrepreneurial musicianship, Sybarite 5 has conducted their Evolution of an Entrepreneur residencies and workshops at major institutions and conservatories including the Curtis Institute of Music and New England Conservatory.  Highlights of recent seasons have included performances in 43 states and counting, from the Library of Congress and St. Paul’s Schubert Club to Anchorage Concert Association and Sun Valley Center for the Arts, as well as concerts in their home of New York City at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, National Sawdust, the Apple Store and the 92nd Street Y.

The Block is located at 360 W. Western Avenue in Muskegon. Single tickets are priced at $25 for regular seats, $35 for table seating. Students with ID will be admitted for $10. To order, call 231.726.3231 or visit www.TheBlockWestMichigan.org.