Don’t tell the Real Vocal String Quartet that they are “Feist’s secret weapon,” a label recently hung on it by a Paste magazine critic. Sure, anyone who has heard the San Francisco-based group’s music or its contributions on other artists’ albums, including Feist’s “Metals” recordings, will likely tell you that such praise is more than well-deserved. But the members of the RSVQ seem genuinely stunned by such superlatives, preferring to talk about the mission of their music.

“I just want people to be moved by our music,” said composer, violinist and RSVQ founder Irene Sazer of what she hopes fans take away from the group’s concerts. “It’s such a tiny little answer but [our hope is] that our music has meaning for other people. That is what really moves me. I [play music] because it has meaning to me; we all do. To hear that somebody felt something or was swept away with beauty that inspired them, those are the kinds of things we love. ”