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	Muzik3 ends season with flourish Charlene Baldridge Village News Inside the San Diego Art Institute's lovely gallery, violinists Laura and Jennifer Frautschi and violist Kirsten Johnson, all of whom played electric instruments, bowed stemware filled with just the right amount of water. All the while, cellist Felix Fan played an impassioned solo on an electric cello. Later the string players made zither- and guitar-like sounds by various means, including steel-tipped fingers and tiny "bows" that resembled swizzle sticks. It's just Muzik3, tackling the adventurous world of George Crumb's "Black Angels for Electric String Quartet, 13 Images from the Dark Land," a work inspired by the Vietnam War. At times, "Black Angels" is unbearably beautiful. At others, it's simply unbearable, just like life; as clangorous as chaos, as disturbing as hopeless faces, as the scream of cats' claws on a blackboard, as the shriek of missiles; and yet, in the midst of all this strife, the work finds a certain, sudden reverence and melodic grace, like a poem by W.S. Merwin. Muzik3 introduced the amazing saxophonist Hayden Chisholm, whose internal "wind" chambers extend to the tips of his toes. He inhales deeply and then as needed, seems to draw air into his mouth from the lungs, allowing him to blow longer than would turn most players red. The fact is that he's perfected a barely discernable, circular-breathing technique, taking air in through the nose while simultaneously blowing through the mouth. More than a trick, more than breath, however, the virtuosic Chisholm performs ambidextrously on tenor and alto sax, creating rippling harmony. He was joined by drummer Jochen Ruckert and cellists Felix Fan and Adrian Brendel. Bassist Jonas Hellborg teamed up with nimble guitarist Shawn Lee for a ten-minute riff that left the Thursday audience hungry for more. The concert concluded with Felix Mendelssohn's joyous and energetic String Octet in E-flat Major. The final movement, presto, contains a magnificent fugue, polished off with relish by the young musicians - Fan, Brendel, the Frautshi sisters, violinist Corinne Chapelle, and violist Tobias Breider, firmly anchored by violinist Chien-Feng Liang and violist Heiichiro Ohyama. Sunday at 5 A capacity audience braved Earth Day crowds at Balboa Park to capture the last of the Muzik3 experience for 1999. Bartok's String Quartet No.3 was followed by the most exciting piece of the evening, Hellborg's new, untitled composition for string quartet (Chien-Feng Liang, Corinne Chapelle, Tobias Breider and Brendel) and two guitars (Hellborg and Shawn Lane). The work adheres to a written score (the brainy Mr. Lane had memorized it) and divides itself into several sections, a beautifully written, melodic rhapsody for the strings; a rhythmic guitar section with cello pizzicato; a jazzy, syncopated, improvisation-like section for two guitars; and a conclusive movement with thematic reprise, played by all. Chisholm and Ruckert were joined by Brendel and Fan in an expanded version of Chisholm's work that was introduced earlier in the week. The evening concluded with a rather ill-defined Schubert String Quintet in C Major. The work received a standing ovation, perhaps not so much for its performance, but for the remarkable overall achievements of Muzik3. 27 December 2001, The San Diego Union Tribune Muzik3's performance by V. Selvagnesh, Shaktialum "Vikku" Vinayakram, U. Shrinivas, and Jonas Hellborg on 23 February 2001- voted number 3 on George Varga's best concerts of 2001. 3 January 2002, La Jolla Village News, Charlene Baldridge "Felix Fan provided some of the year's most exciting musical momnets with Muzik3. I especially enjoyed the final weekend March 2 and 3 with its emphasis first on the music of George Crumb (with an appearance by David Burge, who played the composer's Five Pieces for Piano) and then on electronic and new music, during which a group calling itself Subultra demonstrated the Coke can as a musical/percussion instrument..."