I’m excited to be performing the Canadian premiere of Vivian Fung’s first violin concerto next weekend in my hometown, Saskatoon. Called “Homecoming,” the program also features other Saskatoon-raised musicians Conductor William Rowson and Trumpeter Ryan Cole.

Vivian Fung’s Concerto no. 1

I’m thrilled to be playing this piece; it captivated me from the first listen. Vivian Fung won the 2013 Juno Award Classical Composition of the Year for this piece, but it has yet to be performed in Canada - I feel honoured! The concerto draws on the sights and sounds that Vivian Fung experienced on a trip to Bali. The opening measures sparkle and sing, but the ensuing sections take the listener (and the performers!) on a wild ride through an unfamiliar but beautiful countryside. The violinist goes “off-roading” during the wild cadenza. I’m loving sinking my teeth into this wonderful piece (and “playing like a rockstar!”)

“PLAY LIKE A ROCKSTAR”

(Best marking ever!)

In the composer’s words:

“The work is in one continuous movement with several sections. It starts off high and soft, with bird-like whistles in the strings and eventually culminates in an increasingly driving transition, topped off with a kebyar-like phrase in the orchestra. The first fast section begins with odd-meters and jaunting rhythms in the solo part. A “ghostly” slow section follows, featuring eerie harmonic string writing, and eventually the music accelerates into a second fast section with the solo violin displaying virtuosic moto perpetuo passages. At the climax of this section, an involved cadenza grows toward one of the highest pitches on the violin with the instruction, “play like a rock star.” In the penultimate section of the concerto, the soloist is repeatedly interrupted by the orchestra while quoting from a Javanese folksong called Puspawarna. Eventually, the full texture of this melodic section subsides and the concerto ends as it began, with birdlike whistles fading into ascending glissandi.” Here’s a video of the Javanese folksong:

WHY THIS PIECE?

When approached by General Manager Mark Turner to perform a concerto with the SSO, I thought long and hard about what I wanted to do. I'm a firm believer in evolving our art form and want to do what I can to support new creation - especially the work of talented people like Vivian Fung. There are thousands of violinists playing Tchaikovsky, Sibelius, and Mendelssohn, and you can tune in to CBC and hear any of them anytime; I want to do something that leaves a mark, something that's more personal. When I played with the SSO in 2017, I played "Sapling" by Emily Doolittle - I've guess I've got a type!

1851 J.B. Vuillaume Violin

I’ll be performing on a 1851 Jean Baptiste Vuillaume violin, generously on loan to me by the Canada Council for the Arts Musical Instrument Bank. This violin is of a Maggini model and is built on a larger format - a full 13 mm longer than a typical violin. Being of Maggini model, the violin exhibits double purfling with floral patterns on the back.