By Sarah Gurley, Correspondent
September 7, 2006
Classical music is everywhere. Far from being elitist, it is universal. Try watching your favorite movie; now imagine it without the music. Music is what gives the movie its suspense and drama, it lifts it from the two dimensional screen and fills the room with emotion. Most film music is classical music, played by classically trained musicians. More than playing for the occasional movie, many classical musicians branch out to play all forms and genres of music.
One such young violinist is Mariana Green-Hill who has recently returned to the Boston area. “People think that it is all or nothing, if you play classical music, then you don’t play anything else; it is not the case…I recently performed with the Gorillaz the electric funk and hip hop super group from England, an electric funk band and was on stage with Ike Turner,” says Green-Hill. Gorillaz is a virtual super group band fronted by Damon Albarn from the Britpop band Blur which features animated fictionalized band members.
Green-Hill also performed on Alicia Keys’ recent “Unplugged” album. Green-Hill relates that the “Karma” track from the CD features the beginning of a Brahms concerto. Referring to Keys, Green-Hill says, “I admire her ability to break out and play more than one genre. She can play classical and R&B. However, most of what you hear is her R&B stuff…If you come to hear me play classical it doesn’t mean that I cannot play Hip Hop, R&B, it means that it is not what I choose to be playing on that day.”
Mariana Green-Hill will be playing classical music on September 16th with the Lexington Symphony. When asked what she liked about playing with the Symphony, she commented that, “If an orchestra supports you, you can feel it in 3 or 4 minutes of playing with them. They will do everything in their power to clue into what you want to do and are trying to accomplish.”
She will be performing the Prokofiev Violin Concerto No. 2. The piece is special to Ms. Green-Hill as she walked down the aisle to its second movement. “I have grown musically and technically since I performed with the Lexington Symphony in 1999. It is a different time and I am playing a piece that I really love. Music changes with you as you grow.”
Green-Hill has grown up as an artist since she left Boston. At the age of four she began to study classical violin. Mariana’s talent flourished under the tutelage of the STEP program. The STEP program, String Training Program for Students of Color, was developed to address the historic under representation of classical musicians of color, especially Latinos and African Americans. It was founded in 1982 in Boston and serves nearly 100 students in its programs per annum. Under the auspices of STEP she studied at the New England Conservatory of Preparatory School at the age of 10 with a full scholarship until 1997. She moved to New York where she studied at Juilliard gaining both a Bachelor and Masters Degree. She also received a Professional Studies Diploma from the Mannes College of Music.
Ms. Green-Hill is a first place winner of the Boston Symphony Orchestra competition. She has been a featured guest soloist with the Memphis, New Jersey, Detroit and Boston Symphony Orchestras, the Boston Pops, Symphony Pro Musica of western Massachusetts, the Civic Symphony of Boston, and the Cape Ann Symphony.
Mrs. Green-Hill is concertmaster of the Soulful Symphony in Baltimore where she has collaborated as assistant concertmaster with the Baltimore Symphony. The Soulful Symphony is an orchestra comprised of talented African-American musicians. Founded in 2000 by composer and conductor Darin Atwater, Soulful Symphony blends different genre of music. “It has many soulful elements in it including [its] rhythm. The conductor writes classical music, but the music has some funky rhythms in it,” says Green-Hill.
Green-Hill is a member of the Young Eight, which is an octet (a musical group of eight musicians) of young African American artists that gathers for chamber music performances. The Young Eight has established itself as a dynamic and respected musical ensemble that presents music and educational programs around the county. The success of the Young Eight is demonstrated when a recent sold out concert in Texas had people overflowing on the stage to hear the performance.
For eight years she performed with the Amaryllis String Quartet. The Amaryllis String Quartet was awarded First Prize in the prestigious Fischoff Chamber Music Competition (Jr. Division) in 1995. The Quartet performed with Cellist YoYo Ma at the Gala re-opening concert of Jordan Hall.
Returning to the Boston area, now as a teacher and a performer, Green-Hill comments that Boston is a vibrant and dynamic musical community. We are fortunate to live in a community where live music of many genres is on offer every night of the week. Asked how we can encourage more people to get out and hear live music Ms. Green-Hill commented, “The majority of music is about story telling, one sees pictures, or hears a story…[the music] needs to impress upon the audience in some way.” She explains that classical music is in every facet of our lives. If children are taught to listen for it, they can even find it in the theme to the Simpson’s. “You should listen to it. It has some very difficult licks on the violin.” I wonder if Homer knows; perhaps he would come to the Prokofiev if he did.
