The Global Search for Education: Blue and Green Music: Quartet Meets O’Keeffe
This month, Planet Classroom proudly presents a remarkable performance of Blue and Green Music, a string quartet composed by Victoria Bond and inspired by Georgia O’Keeffe’s iconic painting of the same name. The work is performed by the acclaimed Nightingale String Quartet, bringing together the worlds of visual art and contemporary classical music.
Victoria Bond is a trailblazer in contemporary classical music. As a composer, conductor, and artistic director of Cutting Edge Concerts, she champions new music globally. The New York Times calls her work “powerful, stylistically varied and technically demanding,” while The Wall Street Journal praises her conducting as “impassioned.” Her catalog includes eight operas, six ballets, piano concertos, orchestral, chamber, choral, and keyboard works.
The Nightingale String Quartet, based in Copenhagen, features Gunvor Sihm and Josefine Dalsgaard (violins), Marie Louise Broholt Jensen (viola), and Louisa Schwab (cello). Formed in 2007 and mentored by Professor Tim Frederiksen, they’ve won the Léonie Sonning Talent Prize, the Music Reviewers’ Artist Prize, and were the first ensemble to receive Gramophone’s Young Artist of the Year. Acclaimed for recordings of Langgaard and Holmboe, they’re celebrated for their passion, precision, and richly expressive sound.
We’re delighted to welcome Victoria Bond to The Global Search for Education for a conversation about the creative journey behind Blue and Green Music.
Victoria, What inspired you to link color and music in this composition?
The inspiration came directly from Georgia O’Keeffe’s painting, Blue and Green Music. The painting is an abstract study in motion, color, and form, with blue and green dancing in graceful, sensuous patterns. O’Keeffe was influenced by music. She once said, “Since I cannot sing, I paint.” I felt her painting was already filled with music; it became my challenge to hear that music and express it through sound. The painting’s abstract nature suggested multiple forms, and I knew the music would need two distinct motifs — one for each color — which developed their own direction and form.
How did you collaborate with the Nightingale Quartet?
My composition was introduced to the Nightingale Quartet by the Danish composer Hanne Tofte Jespersen. The quartet connected with the work and decided to include it in their programming, first in Denmark and later in a concert in Ireland. It’s always exciting as a composer to see how new ensembles bring their unique voice and interpretation to your music.
What emotions or images do you hope audiences experience?
One of the things I admire most about O’Keeffe’s painting is that, although abstract, it suggests images without being specific. I want my music to do the same. It should evoke emotions and impressions while leaving room for personal interpretation. Whether it conjures nature, color, or movement — each listener should find their own meaning in the sounds.
How do you see the role of color in future classical works?
That’s a challenging question because it’s so open-ended. I believe color — both in visual and metaphorical terms — has always played a role in music, whether through orchestration, texture, or emotional tone. But how it evolves in future classical works will likely depend on how each composer chooses to explore that relationship.
C.M. Rubin with Victoria Bond
Blue and Green Music — Nightingale Quartet (Denmark) is now streaming on Planet Classroom’s YouTube channel. Let the music take you on a journey through O’Keeffe’s world of sound and color.