(Above: Members of the Delgani String Quartet include, left to right, Jannie Wei, Eric Alterman, Amanda Grimm, and Anthea Kreston.)

By Daniel Buckwalter

There was never any reason for anxiety or worry. This is, after all, Delgani String Quartet.
Still, when a new member of the “Delgani family” is permanently inserted into the ensemble, there is curiosity. How will it look, and how will it sound?

The answer to those questions came to Eugene audiences on Oct. 5 and 6 in the sanctuary of First Church of Christ, Scientist in downtown Eugene when violist Amanda Grimm took her seat at the far right, joining violinists Anthea Kreston and Jannie Wei, along with cellist Eric Alterman, for the Tapestry of Sound concert. By then, Delgani had worked out any bugs with performances in Salem, Corvallis and Portland, and only one word comes to mind when describing this transition: seamless.

Indeed, it was after intermission and well into the performance of Johannes Brahms’ rich Piano Quintet in F Minor (with guest pianist Maria Garcia) that I reminded myself that Delgani had a new violist.

Everything is running as smoothly as ever for Delgani String Quartet.

Grimm opened the concert by describing the first short selection which she chose, Metro Chabacano by the late Mexican composer Javier Álvarez, as something of a “pain in the butt” for Delgani to learn, eliciting laughter from the good-size audience Monday night and smiles from the musicians.

Grimm had performed with Delgani once before, last season in a series of concerts celebrating dance with members of Eugene Ballet Company. She is the principal violist with Oregon Symphony and has extensive experience in symphonic and chamber music, mostly from the Upper Midwest.

Delgani closed the first half of the program with Polish composer Grażyna Bacewicz’s three-movement String Quartet No. 4, composed in 1951. The piece has, as Alterman noted before the performance, “a wonderful range of color.” Bacewicz’s work should be heard more often.

The concert concluded with the four-movement Brahms piano quintet, and the turbulent piece ended with explosive and riveting energy.

It was a stirring start to Delgani’s 11th season — New Beginnings is the season’s theme — and a wonderful appetizer to Delgani’s Nov. 9 and 10 concerts in Eugene, featuring vocalists from Portland’s Resonance Ensemble.