Brooklyn bridge

OSSO-LO Hansen, far right, released a folky pop EP called Wedding Day in 2007.

From the orchestral crescendos in the Beatles’ “A Day in the Life” to Radiohead’s Messiaen-inspired ondes Martenot, pop music has pilfered ideas from the classical world for years. Recently, there’s been a noticeable spike in young musicians straddling the line between indie and symphony. This year, hotshot composer Nico Muhly contributed arrangements to Grizzly Bear’s adored Veckatimest and lush swells of strings to Antony and the Johnsons’ The Crying Light.

New York City–based string quartet Osso rides a similar line. Members Maria Jeffers (cello), Brooke Quiggins (violin), Jannina Barefield (violin) and Marla Hansen (viola)—pictured above, left to right—have their feet in the classical sector (Quiggins is associate principal second violin of the Miami Symphony) but they’ve also worked with a cluster of rock’s critical darlings, such as the National, the Walkmen, My Brightest Diamond and the New Pornographers.

“Crossover is rampant these days,” says Hansen, a University of Wisconsin grad and a Madison native. “Sometimes it’s literally putting on different outfits. Many of the bands we’ve worked with like to wear costumes. But it also feels like that musically. My own musical language has become richer.”

This month, the quartet released its debut album, Run Rabbit Run, a stunning re-arrangement of Sufjan Stevens’s Enjoy Your Rabbit, an electronic concept album from 2001 based on the Chinese zodiac. A strong cast of young composers, including Michael Atkinson, Rob Moose and the ubiquitous Muhly, penned the 13 insightful arrangements, which Osso will saw through at Lakeview joint Schubas. “We tend to spend most of our time in indie venues,” says the 32-year-old. “But we’re playing in a lot of different venues: small art galleries, theaters and museums.”

Though Hansen now resides in Prospect Park, a collabo with Brooklyn native Jay-Z still wouldn’t have seemed likely. “There was a rumor that since Kanye had an orchestra for a high-profile gig, Jay-Z decided he needed an even bigger orchestra,” Hansen says. She and Barefield backed the MC formerly known as Shawn Carter at the 2006 Radio City Music Hall concert celebrating the tenth anniversary of his seminal Reasonable Doubt. “It was one of the greatest experiences I’ve ever had, musical or otherwise,” Hansen gushes. “?uestlove played drums, Beyoncé sang, Diddy stopped by rehearsal to say hi. It was totally surreal. I wouldn’t believe I had done it if I didn’t have pictures.”

Kanye West’s people then came calling for Hansen’s help with a Saturday Night Live performance in 2007. The flashy rapper wanted an all-girl group of string players and a harpist in silver dresses. “We all had the same crazy makeup: a red stripe across our faces,” Hansen recalls. “We looked kind of dorky, but we tried to rock it.”

Run Rabbit Run is out now on Asthmatic Kitty Records. Osso plays Schubas with DM Smith on Wednesday 28.

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