CANANDAIGUA — When Tom Mees heard ATLYS, a string quartet of young women performing in 2019, something unexpected came together.
The result of that fateful night at Ferris Hills at West Lake, where Tom and his wife Mary Lou live, after a performance orchestrated by the Geneva Music Festival was “Sonnenberg Suite,” a CD of string quartet music produced after nearly four years of hard work and navigating through Covid-19.
The 10 movements of the concept album, which lasts nearly an hour, are an “extraordinary masterwork of composition” by Chicago-native composer Ari Barack Fisher performed by the “four strong women” (as they describe themselves) of ATLYS.
The full album was released Friday; four of the tracks from the album already had been released and are on streaming platforms.
The recording was Mees’ idea, which stemmed from an earlier idea of simply having ATLYS find him a composer to further his dream of having a piece of classical music written for each of Sonnenberg’s garden spaces. ATLYS, of course, would perform it.
“There were about 75 people in the audience, and Tom marched right up to us after the (2019) concert with great enthusiasm about his vision for a piece of music that would embody the majesty and beauty of the enchanting, historical Sonnenberg Gardens,” recalled Sabrina Tabby, one of ATLYS’ three violinists.
Mees is a volunteer at Sonnenberg Gardens & Mansion State Historic Park who, since 2000, has done everything from weeding to conducting tours to working in the front office. A classical music lover, he’d long envisioned an orchestral work depicting each of the varied gardens on the romantic Victorian estate that was owned and curated by Mary Clark Thompson.
However, he needed a composer. And performers.
“I told him that it might be expensive,” Tabby said. “He said that wasn’t an issue.”
She said Mees had approached others about what he envisioned, but Tabby said, “Nobody took the bait.”
ATLYS describes itself as a classically trained, “next-gen not-so classical string quartet-crossover” founded in 2016 and lauded for their passionate and dynamic performances and signature sound. They don’t just play straight classical; they cover songs you might hear on the radio, like Imagine Dragons’ “Radioactive.”
The other performers in the quartet are Tabby’s twin sister, Genevieve Tabby, on cello, and violinists Rita Andrade and Jinty McTavish. Besides playing together, they have individual projects and play with a wide gamut of people in the music business.
“We’re a totally independent group, with over 135,000 consistent monthly listeners on Spotify and have headlined all over the country,” Sabrina Tabby said. “We’re a quartet based in Chicago and Nashville, but the Finger Lakes are one of our adopted home bases thanks to numerous invitations to perform in the area over the last five years. What a magical part of the country with the warmest, most welcoming people.”
They introduced Mees to Fisher’s work, and the project began to come together. In May 2021, with Fisher in attendance, ATLYS performed at Sonnenberg Gardens. It was the tail end of the pandemic, but the event still was well-attended, although Mees thought it would have been better attended the next day, when some of the major restrictions were lifted.
Making the album was Mees’ idea. He said he didn’t want all of the beautiful music to be unheard and just have a one-off show. He said he and his daughter largely financed the effort but declined to say how much it cost.
“This album wouldn’t exist (without) Thomas and Mary Lou Mees,” Tabby confirmed.
It was recorded in 2023 with multi-Grammy-winning producer Adam Abeshouse, who passed away last month, Mees said.
“The recording is part of a push to make Sonnenberg Gardens better known throughout the region, the country, and the world, Mees said. “It spreads cheer, which we all need.”