When Lara St. John graduated from the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia at age 16, she hit the road, in search of travel and new musical experiences. That quest led the young Canadian violinist to, of all places, what was then the Soviet Union, where she took up post-graduate study at the Moscow Conservatory. “And I learned so much there, about songs, about Gypsy culture … it … [Read more...]
Violinist Hou branches out into show creation
Crossover is something that Yi-Jia Susanne Hou believes in, and not just in music. The Shanghai-born Canadian violinist, who played a solo recital in the Flagler Museum’s music series in 2009, is perhaps best-known for her work as a featured member of Bowfire, a multimedia fiddle extravaganza founded in 2000 that’s sometimes referred to as “Riverdance with violins.” Hou … [Read more...]
Violinist Fain shines in Prokofiev at Boca Symphonia
There is a kind of intense, high-energy sound that is ideal for the special lyricism of Sergei Prokofiev, and Tim Fain has it. The American violinist gave a riveting performance Sunday afternoon of Prokofiev’s Second Violin Concerto (in G minor, Op. 63) as the Boca Raton Symphonia opened its seventh season at the Roberts Theater. Fain, 35, who’s been celebrated recently for … [Read more...]
Violinist Hahn explores Ives, opens programs to new encores
She signed her first record contract with Sony at age 16, and her career has only climbed steadily into the empyrean of classical music stardom since then. But it is a mark of the unpretentious, hardworking, homemade character of the professional life Hilary Hahn has built that while she could easily pull back and let the machinery of big fame bring gift-wrapped opportunity to … [Read more...]
Violinist Ehnes, Toronto SO begin Florida tour
The promoters of this week’s Toronto Symphony concerts might not have noticed it, but the program and its presenters make up something of an international accord between the two big federal republics of North America. So says James Ehnes, a violinist from Manitoba and a dual citizen of Canada and the United States who now calls Brandenton home. “It’s kind of a nice, friendly … [Read more...]
Violinist-composer Roumain charts cross-genre path
It’s not easy to categorize a musician who can write sonatas for turntables and hip-hop etudes, a violin concerto and dance scores, but the world of contemporary classical music is quickly getting used to the cross-genre fluency of people such as Daniel Bernard Roumain. “I think there are a lot of composers my age and younger, who literally have played in rock bands, go to … [Read more...]
Violinist Numata shows power, wide range in Duncan recital
If eclecticism is the name of the game for today's younger virtuosi, then to be successful these days requires that you play all those different kinds of pieces equally well. It won't do, in other words, to have a middling Mozart but an incandescent Shostakovich. Too much is expected, but that doesn't mean you can't shine a little brighter in some things more than in others. … [Read more...]
Violinist O’Connor to play genre-busting recital in Wellington
Some musicians are so adept at different styles that they get tagged with the phrase "they can play anything." Fewer actually earn the distinction, since most don't get the chance, or even seek, to play every style. American violinist Mark O'Connor is the exception, since the 48-year-old has practically been there and done all that. He conquered Gypsy jazz and swing while … [Read more...]
Violinist Almond shines in Ravel, both Schumanns at Flagler recital
The violinist Frank Almond was equal parts artist and advocate Tuesday night as he opened the Flagler Museum's 2010 concert series, making an eloquent case for the music of Clara Schumann. Almond, concertmaster of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, performed one of the German pianist's Romances for violin twice in a broad-ranging recital that showed off this performer's … [Read more...]
Teen violinist Hoopes commanding at Stage West
Young violin virtuosos aren't exactly a dime a dozen, but there seem to be quite a few more around these days interested in making names for themselves. A case in point is Chad Hoopes, an earnest 15-year-old from suburban Cleveland who opened the new season of chamber music concerts at the Duncan Theatre's Stage West, on the Lake Worth campus of what next month will be called … [Read more...]