Long-time Berkeleyan Irene Sazer didn’t set out to capture unicorns. But in creating the Real Vocal String Quartet about a decade ago she had to find a particularly rare, almost mythical, species of musician: conservatory-trained string players comfortable with free improvisation and versed in an international array of styles from South America and Appalachia to […]
Real Vocal String Quartet
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Dina Maccabee: A string queen departs
For East Bay native Dina Maccabee, it’s the end of hometown ubiquity. Since moving back to California in the mid 1990s after studying at the University of Michigan, the violinist, violist and vocalist has played in an array of bands, from the dizzying world-bluegrass of Japonize Elephants to the lush folk pop of her duo […]
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Four string sisters find their calling with help from Feist
The four women of the Real Vocal String Quartet know they have something rare and unusual going, but it wasn’t until they answered a last-minute call to collaborate with the Canadian singer/songwriter Leslie Feist that they fully realized the singular nature of the ensemble. Launched almost a decade ago by Berkeley violinist Irene Sazer, the […]
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Out in Berkeley: Violinist Irene Sazer’s far-flung sounds
By Andrew Gilbert Berkeley violinist Irene Sazer has worked with a mind-boggling array of artists, from Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra and Ray Charles to Ali Akbar Khan, David Grisman and Bjork. In founding her own band, she wanted a vehicle to explore all the far-flung sounds and styles that pique her interest. The Real Vocal […]