36 | MAY 6 • 2021 

A

bigail Rojansky, violist with 
the Verona Quartet, began her 
musical leanings at a young 
age after coming to an agreement with 
her mom. Her professional accom-
plishments advanced as she came to 
agreements with others.
Although Rojansky wanted to con-
centrate on ballet classes, her mom 
wanted her to enroll in violin lessons, 
following the avocation of the young-
ster’s grandfather. The agreement had 
Rojansky studying both dance and vio-
lin, but over time, the ballet stopped, 
and a preference for viola took hold. 
When the Verona Quartet formed 
some eight years ago — with violinists 
Jonathan Ong and Dorothy Ro as well 
as cellist Jonathan Dormand — there 
would be brainstorming discussions to 
come to agreements about what to play 
at concerts that have toured them to 
four continents.

With live appearance limitations 
forced by the pandemic, the group 
has conceded to digital concerts until 
recently. Masked and vaccinated, the 
quartet happily makes its second round 
of stage recitals for the Chamber Music 
Society of Detroit (CMSD) as the eve-
ning presentation also livestreams.

 TWO CONCERTS
“We’re delighted to be performing three 
pieces that we really love,” said Rojansky, 
whose group will be onstage starting at 
5 and 8 p.m. Saturday, May 15, at the 
Seligman Performing Arts Center in 
Beverly Hills. 
“The first is a contemporary piece 
(‘Quartet’) by Reena Esmail, who has 
combined Indian classical music with 
Western classical tradition in a magi-
cal way. A second piece is the Richard 
Strauss ‘Sextet,’ and for that, we will be 
joined by Nicholas Mariscal on cello 

and Jordan Bak on viola; the piece 
comes from the Capriccio opera by 
Strauss. The third piece is the Dvorak 
‘American Quartet.’ 
“The concert is strung from a broad 
range of our repertoire and a variety 
of generations and styles. The first 
two pieces pay reference and homage 
to folk cultures beyond that of the 
Western classical tradition. Dvorak is 
referencing late 19th century sounds 
and folk music he was hearing in 
America.”
Verona, on the faculty of Oberlin 
College and Conservatory of Music 
in Ohio, formed when members 
were advanced students at Indiana 
University. Their professional combi-
nation was encouraged by the Pacifica 
Quartet, which has been featured by 
the CMSD.
“I went to a music day school in the 
San Francisco Bay area, where the vio-
lin students played viola,” Rojansky, 31, 
recalled. 
“I ended up playing both fairly seri-
ously until I decided to focus on the 
viola at Oberlin, where I did my under-
graduate degree.
“After Indiana, we went [on faculty] 
to the Julliard School as a quartet and 
then to the New England Conservatory 
as a quartet. We’ve been so fortunate to 
have performed at places like Carnegie 
Hall in New York and the Kennedy 
Center for the Performing Arts in 
Washington, D.C.”

ARTS&LIFE
MUSIC

Verona Quartet performs live for the 
Chamber Music Society of Detroit.
ECLECTIC STRINGS

SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Details
The Verona Quartet presents con-
certs at 5 and 8 p.m. Saturday, May 
15, at the Seligman Performing Arts 
Center, 22305 W. 13 Mile, Beverly 
Hills, where the later performance 
will be accessible remotely. $10-
$30 live (with encore online access 
for a week); $5-$15 digital (available 
for one week). (313) 335-3350 or 
cmsdetroit.org.

Verona Quartet: Jonathan Ong, Abigail 
Rojansky, Dorothy Ro, Jonathan Dormand

