Showing posts with label violin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label violin. Show all posts

September 4 – Happy Birthday, David Garrett

Posted on September 4, 2017


I noticed that today's famous birthday, David Garrett, who was born in Germany on this date in 1980, is called a crossover violinist. 

And what, exactly, makes a musician a "crossover" violinist?

In the United States, especially, a crossover musician is someone who appeals to different audiences. David Garrett plays classical music but also pop music. His records and concerts are enjoyed by a wide variety of people - not just those who love violin concertos, but also people who love a good Michael Jackson song or a rocking Metallica tune.

Garrett's birth name is David Bongartz; Garrett is the maiden name of his American mother, who was a prima ballerina. Garrett became interested in violin really early. It was his older brother's violin, not his - he was only 4 years old! - but he was already winning competitions at age 5 and studying the violin in a conservatory at age 7. 

So I guess that made him a prodigy!

Here are some more early achievements:

Age 9 - debuted at the Festival Kissinger Sommer
Age 11 - received a Stradivarius violin from the German president
Age 12 - traveled all over Europe to work with violinist Ida Haendel
Age 13 - recorded CDs, appeared on TV, gave a concert for the president, youngest soloist to sign an exclusive contract with a classical music label
Age 16 - played with the Munich orchestra
Age 17 - enrolled at the Royal College of Music in London
Age 19 - enrolled in Juilliard School in NYC
Age 23 - won a composition competition at Juilliard, studied under famed violinist Itzhak Perlman

Check out some of Garrett's performances:



 

Also on this date:
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , ,

November 2 – Happy Birthday, Marion Jones Farquhar

Posted on November 2, 2015

To be famous enough for something like Wikipedia, you have to be really good at one thing.

And to be really good at one thing, you need to work hard at that thing.

Marion Jones, born on this date in 1879, worked hard enough at tennis that she won women's singles titles in two U.S. Tennis Championships and was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. 

She was even the first American woman to win an Olympic “distinction” – there were no medals at that point in Olympic history.



These photos showed the clothing women
wore while playing tennis in the late 1800s and
the "Turn of the Century."

Hard to imagine, isn't it?


The thing I found interesting is that, after Jones married Robert D. Farquhar and raised three children, she became a coach. But she didn't become a tennis coach, which is totally what I would've expected! Instead, she became a voice coach. She was living in New York City, and she became well known as a violinist as well as a voice coach, and she translated opera librettos, and she even headed the New York Chamber Opera for a while.

Isn't that cool? Marion Jones Farquhar became well known in two completely unrelated fields!


Strive for balance...

Most of us will never make it to Wikipedia; we will never be that level of “well-known” in even one field, let alone two. 

But we can all try to maintain a balance in our lives. We can all make or enjoy music, AND participate in some sort of performing or visual art, AND continue to learn new things, AND play a sport or pursue some other form of exercise.

  • There are lots of articles on balance – like this one.


Also on this date:


All Souls' Day




























Mathematician George Boole's birthday

















Plan ahead:

Check out my Pinterest boards for:

And here are my Pinterest boards for:



Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , ,

June 16 – National Old Time Fiddlers' Festival


Posted on June 16, 2014


 Part contest, part festival – all old-time fun!

This annual festival is held at the high school of Weiser, Idaho, drawing thousands of people and hundreds of fiddlers competing in the contest. There are workshops, performances, music battles, a parade, and a carnival. Most of the visitors camp in the school's sports fields!




This contest has been going on a long, long time – more than 60 years! According to Wikipedia, it sets the standards for fiddling competitions.

Actually, it has never occurred to me before that there were such things as fiddling competitions. 

 But I guess if people can compete to see who can eat the most hot dogs in one sitting – well, let's just saw that a fiddling competition makes a lot more sense!

Judges like to see Texas Contest Style fiddling with good old-time fiddling style, danceability, rhythm, timing, and good tone. There are several different divisions, depending on the competitors' ages.

  • There are (it turns out) lots of different styles of fiddling, and some of the swing and bluegrass and Irish fiddling comes out during the performances and the jam sessions!. Check out this video for a taste of several styles! 
  • A fiddle is, of course, a violin, and one of the earlier versions of the instrument is the medieval vielle. Check out some very old dance tunes played on a really old-style fiddle, here. 
  • Of all those styles “tasted” above, I loved Irish fiddling the best, so here is one more of that sort of fiddle music! Boy, does my heart sing to this music! 
  • Last but not least, I love TED Talks, and I thought that this TED Talk by two Canadian fiddlers was fairly long but charming! 

Also on this date:





















Plan ahead:

Check out my Pinterest boards for:
And here are my Pinterest boards for:

Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)