[Music]
you
[Music]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
history happens philosophers name it
artists reflected and people feel it I’m
a 21st century classical musician I
found the violin at a year and a half
and I literally can’t remember a time
when it wasn’t the most important thing
in my life and now as I head towards
college and hopefully a career I find
myself wondering what will be my role as
a classical musician in today’s
hyper-connected ultra global society
throughout history composers have sought
to express the essential philosophical
questions of the time they live in
challenging the performer to reflect
these questions to the audience offering
an emotional way to experience and
understand the human condition this is
what I love about being a musician I get
to create something that touches me as
well as everyone else so what are the
questions that classical music has
offered us throughout time well in the
Baroque period we asked the question
what is the sacred what is God one of
the composers who best explores this
question is Bach which I just played for
you for me playing Bach is very
comforting and healing whenever I’m
going through a hard time in my life I
play Bach as a way to ground myself and
really express what I’m feeling when a
favorite school teacher of mine was
diagnosed with breast cancer I played
for her many times throughout her dying
process I would always choose to play
Bach for her and it was an amazing
experience to share this sacred music
with someone in that stage of their life
we asked a different question in the
Classical era we were really focused on
intellectual clarity and we asked what
is purity what is perfection this was
most famously demonstrated by Mozart for
example listen to the simplicity and
purity in this excerpt from the Mozart
Violin Concerto number 5
[Music]
mozart was really able to express purity
and perfection in his music this can
provide clarity in an otherwise chaotic
world but it’s not my favorite music
because everything seems almost too
perfect music needs to have flaws just
as we do for that’s what makes it
perfect the Romantic movement asks what
is possible how far can our emotions
take us exemplified by the deeply moving
music of Brahms in this excerpt from the
Brahms Violin Concerto listen to the
intense range of emotion
[Music]
[Music]
this music broke free from the
restrictions of the classical era and
really expressed both the depth and the
subtlety of human emotion even the
excerpt I just played takes us on a
whirlwind of emotions and characters all
the technique serves the music and I
find it exhilarating and euphoric to
play because it is just a pure
expression of emotion now listen to this
[Music]
this is the sound of the 20th century
chaotic dissonant filled with
uncertainty and fear and asking the
question what are we doing what’s the
point
Shostakovich portrays this with his dark
ironic music as you heard in this
excerpt from the Shostakovich violin
concerto number one interestingly this
is also very comforting to play but in
such a different way from Bach being
able to express all your frustration and
confusion is cathartic and I really like
it that brings us to today the 21st
century what is my generations essential
question I think it is who are we who
are we in today’s high-tech
hyper-connected world we need a music
that finds our commonalities without
sacrificing our individuality we don’t
have a musical answer for this yet and
we can only speculate as to where it
will take us so for now I suppose I’d
say that the role of a classical
musician in today’s society is to keep
the music alive so we will always have a
way to experience the profound questions
of humanity thank you
you
you
[Music]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
history happens philosophers name it
artists reflected and people feel it I’m
a 21st century classical musician I
found the violin at a year and a half
and I literally can’t remember a time
when it wasn’t the most important thing
in my life and now as I head towards
college and hopefully a career I find
myself wondering what will be my role as
a classical musician in today’s
hyper-connected ultra global society
throughout history composers have sought
to express the essential philosophical
questions of the time they live in
challenging the performer to reflect
these questions to the audience offering
an emotional way to experience and
understand the human condition this is
what I love about being a musician I get
to create something that touches me as
well as everyone else so what are the
questions that classical music has
offered us throughout time well in the
Baroque period we asked the question
what is the sacred what is God one of
the composers who best explores this
question is Bach which I just played for
you for me playing Bach is very
comforting and healing whenever I’m
going through a hard time in my life I
play Bach as a way to ground myself and
really express what I’m feeling when a
favorite school teacher of mine was
diagnosed with breast cancer I played
for her many times throughout her dying
process I would always choose to play
Bach for her and it was an amazing
experience to share this sacred music
with someone in that stage of their life
we asked a different question in the
Classical era we were really focused on
intellectual clarity and we asked what
is purity what is perfection this was
most famously demonstrated by Mozart for
example listen to the simplicity and
purity in this excerpt from the Mozart
Violin Concerto number 5
[Music]
mozart was really able to express purity
and perfection in his music this can
provide clarity in an otherwise chaotic
world but it’s not my favorite music
because everything seems almost too
perfect music needs to have flaws just
as we do for that’s what makes it
perfect the Romantic movement asks what
is possible how far can our emotions
take us exemplified by the deeply moving
music of Brahms in this excerpt from the
Brahms Violin Concerto listen to the
intense range of emotion
[Music]
[Music]
this music broke free from the
restrictions of the classical era and
really expressed both the depth and the
subtlety of human emotion even the
excerpt I just played takes us on a
whirlwind of emotions and characters all
the technique serves the music and I
find it exhilarating and euphoric to
play because it is just a pure
expression of emotion now listen to this
[Music]
this is the sound of the 20th century
chaotic dissonant filled with
uncertainty and fear and asking the
question what are we doing what’s the
point
Shostakovich portrays this with his dark
ironic music as you heard in this
excerpt from the Shostakovich violin
concerto number one interestingly this
is also very comforting to play but in
such a different way from Bach being
able to express all your frustration and
confusion is cathartic and I really like
it that brings us to today the 21st
century what is my generations essential
question I think it is who are we who
are we in today’s high-tech
hyper-connected world we need a music
that finds our commonalities without
sacrificing our individuality we don’t
have a musical answer for this yet and
we can only speculate as to where it
will take us so for now I suppose I’d
say that the role of a classical
musician in today’s society is to keep
the music alive so we will always have a
way to experience the profound questions
of humanity thank you
you
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