The Crimson String Quartet (CSQ) is pleased to announce its return to Southern Saskatchewan for a concert tour August 8-10, 2025, culminating in a concert in Regina at Darke Hall on August 10th at 3pm.
In addition to the CSQ’s signature cross-genre programming, inspired by the folk and popular music of Edvard Grieg, the Beatles and traditional fiddle tunes, the Spirit of the Prairies Tour features the world premiere of a newly commissioned work by Saskatchewan-born composer Nicole Lizée.
The tour kicks off on August 8 at the historic Gaiety Theatre in Gravelbourg, Lizée’s hometown and home to the architectural inspiration of her work. The program will then be presented August 9 at the Shurniak Art Gallery in Assiniboia, as part of their 20th Anniversary Celebration. The final concert is planned for Darke Hall on August 10, presented by the Regina Musical Club.
“With the heart of our quartet having been rooted in the Prairies for many years, it feels very meaningful for us to celebrate our 15th anniversary by commissioning a new piece inspired by the Prairies and composed by a Saskatchewan-born artist,” says Audrey Sproule, violinist and founding member of the quartet.
“This project is very special to me in that Gravelbourg is my hometown,” Lizée says. The premise of the work will be rurex, or rural exploration, generally described as the exploration of abandoned and severely decomposing rural structures. The piece is inspired by the Gravelbourg Elementary School, which was built in 1916 as a convent but is currently vacant and supposedly haunted. When Lizée attended the school in the late 1970s, the fourth floor was off-limits as it was apparently overrun by ghosts.
Tickets for the Regina concert are available at the door or online at www.reginamusicalclub.ca. The CSQ is grateful for the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and Sask Lotteries.
About the Crimson String Quartet
The Crimson String Quartet was founded in 2010 and has performed over 300 concerts across Canada and while cruising the North Atlantic. They have toured in Saskatchewan annually since 2012.
CSQ members are cellist Alyssa Ramsay (Regina) and violinists Audrey Sproule (Lafleche, SK) Laurence Schaufele (Bow Island, AB) and Alvin Tran (Vancouver). The musicians hold performance degrees from The Glenn Gould School of Music in Toronto, University of Calgary, Boise State University, Cleveland Institute of Music, Université de Montréal and McGill University, where the quartet was founded.
