"Which is what we do, even though we're not literally singers," says Meghan Casper, violist in the Azmari Quartet. "It also has to do with the oral traditions of history and culture, and the passing on of those lineages."

The Azmari Quartet, Northern Kentucky University's new Patricia A. Corbett String Quartet in Residence, will take its first bow on Friday in a concert of Beethoven, Bartok and Brahms. The quartet - the only resident string quartet in Northern Kentucky or Cincinnati - succeeds the Amernet String Quartet, which is now resident quartet at Florida International University in Miami.

It's a new ensemble with big ambitions.

The Azmari's members - Christina Merblum, 26, and Mintze Wu, 27, violinists; cellist Rebecca Merblum, 26; and Casper, 30 - formed last year at Northern Illinois University, while working with the Vermeer Quartet. The musicians are graduates of the Cleveland Institute of Music, and have close ties with the members of the Cleveland Quartet.

IF YOU GO

What: "New Faces on the Classics," The Azmari String Quartet When: 8 p.m. Friday Where: Greaves Concert Hall, Northern Kentucky University The program: Beethoven's Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 127; Bartok's Quartet No. 4 and Brahms' Quartet in A Minor, Op. 51 No. 2. Tickets: $10; $5 students, seniors and NKU faculty and staff. (859) 572-6984 or visit www.music.nku.edu.

"Our challenge is to take all the wonderful things from all the quartets that we studied with, and put our own voice in it," Casper says.

As they rehearsed the opening of Brahms' Quartet Op. 51 No. 2 last week in their windowless studio on the NKU campus, their sound was rich, intense and energized. They communicated with one another like a seasoned ensemble. Recently, they were selected as finalists to compete in the Tromp International Competition in the Netherlands later this fall, the only American quartet to make the finals.

In NKU's national search to replace the Amernet, it was not only the Azmari's playing that stood out, says Kurt Sander,

interim chair of the music department. It was also their teaching ability.

"We were very impressed with the master classes they gave - some of the best we've ever seen," Sander says. "You may be a good performer, but you have to be a good teacher."

The quartet plans outreach concerts in area schools, as far south as Owensboro, Ky. They'll work closely with students in individual lessons and string quartet ensembles.

Sander, who became interim chair after Paul Kreider left last year to become fine arts dean at Western Illinois University, says his vision is to make NKU "a center of chamber music."

"We want to bring students together in formed quartets, and have them experience four years of playing chamber music," he says.

The school presently has 16 string students and 160 music majors total - NKU's largest class ever.

The Azmari quartet members hope to build up NKU's fledgling strings program into more of a competitive conservatory atmosphere, and "to create an environment that has positive energy for our students," says Rebecca Merblum.

"We hope to pass on the excitement of classical music," says Christina Merblum, her twin. "Music is an incredibly small family, ultimately, worldwide."

E-mail jgelfand@enquirer.com