The trio will play with the wood against the strings, rather than the bow across the strings.
COURTESY | WIKIPEDIA
As the first somber strains of Edward Elgar’s “Nimrod” filled Markel Auditorium on Friday, Mar. 21, the audience held its breath, poised for the music department’s first violin and viola virtuosi concert in five years.
The violin and viola virtuosi, two student groups consisting of violinists and violists, gave a variety of performances, journeying from solo viola and violin performances to spirited, high-energy fiddle tunes.
The 29 student performers, according to the concert’s director and professor of music Melissa Knecht, are not part of a formal music ensemble and began work on the concert music this past January.
“They’re just good students that go to Hillsdale, practice, and love playing,” Knecht said.
Junior Ellia He opened the soloist lineup with a commanding violin performance of “Romanza Andaluza” from Pablo de Sarasate’s “Spanish Dances,” not wasting a measure and playing with elegance, melodic expression, and a room-shaking vibrato that left every ear stunned.
Junior Michael Berry and senior Jay Golden, both experienced fiddlers, had solo moments that added a playful chemistry to the concert.
Berry said his favorite moment of the concert was when the ensemble walked into the aisles from the back of the room, joining Watts’ solo performance of Charles Johnson’s “Dill Pickle Rag” from the audience.
“We were about to go up as a group, and nobody in the audience knew that, and so when we started playing, I could see faces start to light up,” Berry said.
Freshman Aidan Watts played with a stoic, executive precision in his performance of Henri Wieniawski’s “Scherzo — Tarantelle,” while sophomore Isabelle Ekstrom brought Peter Nero’s “The Hot Canary” to life with humorous facial expressions and bright dynamics, infusing well with the piece’s tricks and double-stops.
“It was fun to watch all the people, especially people who weren’t fiddlers as much, to try and get into the fiddle music and make it a little bit more lively,” Watts said. “Myself included, it was definitely a fun experience to try and get out of my comfort zone that way.”
Senior Bánk Bodor’s viola performance of “Czárdás,” by Vittorio Monti, stood out as a masterful performance amid a night of great musical talent. A thoroughly precise musician, Bodor shaped every note uniquely, carefully tailoring his musical phrasing to bring the listener into every minute expression and emotion.
“I’m honored that I can be in her studio,” said Bodor, who has spent all four years at Hillsdale studying under Knecht. “It’s very difficult to find a professor who is more self-giving than Dr. Knecht because she invests so much time in her students.”
Although five years have passed since the last time she showcased a student ensemble like this, Knecht decided to do one again this year because she felt she had the right students.
“You have to have a lot of students that can play well to put something like this together,” Knecht said. “And this right now, I feel like I have a wonderful class in my studio that has a lot of great training and a great attitude and who love playing.”
