What age did you start playing music?
I began playing violin at the age of 5 but my first memory of hearing a violin played was when I was around 3 years old. My mom sang in a contemporary choir at our local church and there was a violinist that played with the group and I fell in love with the sound of it.
When did you know that you wanted to pursue music professionally?
I have known that I wanted pursue music professionally most of my life. I started to become more serious about it when I started high school and was studying with a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Bonnie Bewick Brown. She has been a member of the BSO violin section since 1987. In my senior year of high school, I transferred to the Walnut Hill School for the Arts, where I was able to focus on my playing much more in depth and was accepted to the Cleveland Institute of Music as an undergraduate.
What/who are your musical inspirations?
David Oistrakh is one my biggest inspirations; I remember hearing a recording he did of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Eugene Ormandy. I’ve always resonated with his playing my entire career because of the emotional depth behind every note he plays. Augustin Hadelich also inspires me for the same reason. He has such nuance and emotional depth to his playing but he’s also so technically sound. I heard him play the Brahms Violin Concerto with Colorado Symphony back in 2023 and he received a standing ovation after just the first movement. When I hear performances like that, it reminds me exactly why I chose to become a musician.
If you could program a TSO concert, what music would you select and why?
Mozart’s Don Giovanni Overture: what I love about this overture is the way that the dark, villainous quality of the introduction pairs so seamlessly with the playfulness of the allegro section. Mozart’s music really speaks to me and I really feel this overture perfectly encapsulates the character of Don Giovanni. I would also program the Beethoven Violin Concerto. I had the opportunity to perform it with Augustin Hadelich while attending the Bowdoin International Music Festival back in 2016 and so he would be my first choice as far as soloists to perform it. It’s another piece I really resonate with. It’s incredibly transparent and difficult but when played well, it’s one of the most beautiful pieces ever written for the violin. My favorite symphony out of the entire repertoire is Beethoven’s 7th Symphony. It is the piece I look forward to playing every single time I see it on an upcoming program. It was written during a very difficult time in Beethoven’s life in which his hearing was starting to deteriorate. When listening to his 7th symphony, one would never know the struggles he was enduring. The way the first movement transitions out of the introduction on one single note passed between the flute and the violins is genius. I find the second movement equally inspiring in the way that Beethoven builds a set of theme and variations off of just two measures.
Which concert are you most looking forward to in the upcoming season?
I am most looking forward to the Classic Series concert taking place in December. The program will feature pianist, Alessio Bax performing Beethoven’s 5th piano concerto also known as the “Emperor” that has such a heroic and optimistic quality that I love. Of all the piano concertos that I’ve played, it’s my favorite. The program will also feature the 5th Symphony of Dmitri Shostakovich, which has a very dark haunting quality to it that’s virtually opposite to the character of the Emperor concerto. I would also say that this is my personal favorite Shostakovich symphony if I had to choose just one.
What do you love about the violin?
First and foremost, the sound of the violin is my favorite. I heard it for the first time at the age of 3 and I told my parents that I “just want to make that beautiful sound.” Today, I would say that I love the music that has been composed for violin. There is such a broad range of repertoire of all eras available for violinists to learn and perform. There is still so much repertoire out there that I have yet to perform and just knowing that I will likely never run out of music available to perform is what has motivated me to keep playing and become a professional violinist.
What do you love about Tucson?
So far, the only time that I’ve spent in Tucson was for my audition in May and then at the beginning of June when I came to look for a place to live. I fell in love with the landscape of the city surrounded by all the mountains and cacti. I’m very much looking forward to moving here and exploring Tucson more and discovering more specific things that I love about it. My Icelandic Sheepdog, Chip, will accompany me. I am already starting to refer to him as my “desert Icie.”