“Jessie Montgomery’s ‘Strum,’ a ten-minute-long work that deserves its status as a 21st-century classic in its various incarnations for string quartet and larger string ensembles, dates from 2008 when the composer was only 24. She filled it with intriguing colors, sonic ingenuity, and masterly allusions to rock, jazz and folk music. Aaron Grad wrote that its ‘primary driver … is a strumming gesture, with the string players plucking up and down in the manner of a guitar’ Thus the Calidores closed the first half with its unrelenting expressions of nostalgia and joy.”