Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams" is not typically part of a classically trained musician's repertoire; neither are songs from Lady Gaga and Metallica.
However, sophomore violinist Sarah Jylkka is working to change that, one string performance at a time.
Jylkka's idea to start the student run ensemble began with her First Year Seminar, in which they had to create a 21st century concert. The concert consisted of a quartet performing pop music.
"It was really fun, but we could only do it the once. So, I tried it over the summer with my friends from back home, and it worked really well," Jylkka said, adding that they mostly performed on the streets and in various shops.
The group came up with their name, Bootleg String Ensemble, during a brainstorming session.
"Everything was terrible, and someone mentioned Bootleg. Initially, we knocked it off and were like 'that's stupid,'" Jylkka said. "But we just kept returning to the name, and it sounded kind of rebellious, which is kind of what we're doing: classical musicians not playing classical music."
Jylkka and junior Jacob Peterman decided that they wanted to continue the group, which is a rotating group that will always have at least two violins, a cello, one viola and usually one bass. She began the search for musicians by making an announcement at the School of Music's weekly Recital Hour, which allows students the chance to perform on their own, rather than in the various groups.
Through this announcement, first-year and cellist Peter Lockman found out about the budding ensemble.
"We're the musicians that play the music that is not classical music," Lockman said. "We play from Lady Gaga to The Beatles, Metalica, etc."
"Something else that I think we do is provide a versatile ensemble. So, when people are looking for people to play outside or play on short notice, they can call us and we'll play," Jylkka added.
Last semester, Bootleg String Ensemble performed a total of nine times at local restaurants such as Almost Home and Mama Nunz's, as well as in the Hub.
They also collaborated with the University Chorus to perform "Duel of the Fates" from Star Wars, at one of the choir's concerts.
Jylkka believes that the group is one way to being bridging the gap between the School of Music and the College of Liberal Arts. However, she thinks the importance of having such a group goes beyond campus.
"I think it's really important because it's brought older instruments back into popularity. It's provided people a good time. It's nice to listen to music that you might hear on the radio in a fun way, performed by musicians that are semi-professional," Jylkka said.
"We're drawing others to classical music," Lockman added.
The group practices together one to two hours each week, while individual musicians decide how much they need to practice individually to master the song.
Although the group has somewhat started taking requests, Peterman and Jylkka select the pieces. Jylkka said a desirable piece is "fun, but difficult, and involves all of their members enough."
"We're not really affiliated with the School of Music, per se, but I do think that we're embodying the 21st century musician initiative," Jylkka said.
"I feel that we're sort of a pioneer group in the school. [The ensemble is] bringing new music into the old way of playing, bringing old music into the new way of playing, bringing the new music on instruments that have been around for hundreds of years, and bringing diversity into the School [of Music]," Lockman said.
This semester, the ensemble will have an all classical music concert, which will be conducted by senior David Gordon.
"He's going to work with our ensemble as a chamber group. We're hoping to get a lot of interest with people who have seen our performances but don't know classical music," Jylkka said, adding that the group aspires to eventually perform in Indianapolis.
For Jylkka, being part of the group has not only expanded her repertoire, but also has helped her in her quest to become a better musician.
"During my freshman year, I got kind of board with the music I was playing. There was so much classical, and I didn't really connect to it right off the bat," Jylkka said.
But playing contemporary music in addition to the various classical songs has helped her rekindle her excitement for music in general.
"It's really fun to be able to play something that I know the audience is going to like," Jylkka said. "I've been able to take that back to what I've been playing that's classical."
First-year Dylan Prentice has been to several of the groups performances.
"They performed more contemporary music in a traditional style in terms of chord progression and harmonization, so that was pretty cool," Prentice said. "I can't wait to see what they do next."
Professor of English and communications and theatre, Ron Dye, first saw the ensemble over Winter Term when they were playing at Mama Nunz.
"I really liked what they were doing in terms of just starting the series," Dye said. "Just on hearing them one time, I'm a big fan."
Dye liked that the group was playing difficult arrangements of popular music off campus.
"I think any group of students doing art of any kind on campus and off campus in the community is important," Dye said. "My perception is I don't think there are as many student groups playing music as there was maybe 10 years ago, for example."
Dye was impressed that students had the gumption to form their own ensemble and schedule performances throughout the community.
"For students to take that kind of initiative and form a group and practice and then play in public, I think is refreshing, and God knows that School of Music students, it's not like they have a lot of free time," Dye said.
Upcoming concerts and updates about the ensemble can be found on their Facebook page.