Lexington Sinfonietta Brings Stefan Jackiw to Town
From February 9, 2006 Lexington Minuteman
By Rebecca Hawkins, Correspondent
Imagine an international rising star of the violin world playing his Stradivarius before your very eyes. Now close your eyes and hear the intense and beautiful sound he produces. You could be in Symphony Hall or in London, Paris, St. Petersburg or any other major city where this young man has performed. But you're here in Cary Hall, Lexington, with a 20-year-old genius named Stefan Jackiw and the Lexington Sinfonietta conducted by Jonathan McPhee. This extraordinary event took place on January 30th before hundreds of area children.
How does a young star like this come to Lexington? Jackiw was preparing to perform Bruch's "Scottish Fantasy" with the Seoul Philharmonic in an upcoming tour and wanted to play the concerto with an orchestra beforehand to get comfortable with the piece. His management contacted McPhee, who saw the possibility of sharing Jackiw's talent with local young musicians by bringing in the Lexington Sinfonietta and opening up the rehearsal to students and their parents. McPhee said, "I first conducted for Stefan when he performed the Saint-Saens Third Violin Concerto with Symphony by the Sea. He has a uniquely personal style on stage that communicates his sincerity as an artist while dazzling you with this effortless technique that makes complexity sound easy."
At the heart of this program was a connection between orchestra, soloist, community and its youth. "We are a group with a commitment to community," says Jessie Foster, Lexington Sinfonietta President. "We believe in making live classical music accessible to our children -as part of everyday life. When you attend an event like this, the excitement and interest you see in the kids for this music and its players is inspiring."
At the invitation of the Lexington Sinfonietta, students from Lexington and surrounding towns had the rare chance to witness the behind-the-scenes conversations between conductor, soloist and orchestra and to see the concerto take shape in rehearsal. Listeners saw and heard the back-and-forth between conductor McPhee and Jackiw with occasional instructions from McPhee to the orchestra members. Between Jackiw's amazing technique and attentive accompaniment by the orchestra, each movement came together quickly.
A question-and-answer session with Jackiw followed, which revealed the secrets of his success - including a 4-5 hour daily practice schedule and "a lot less than that" spent on studies at Harvard, where he is a junior. When one child asked how long it had taken him to learn the "Scottish Fantasy," Jackiw's response of "three weeks" elicited a gasp from the audience-this is a piece so demanding that the only great violinist ever to include it in his standard solo repertoire was Jascha Heifetz. With some coaxing from McPhee, he also shared that he learned it while completing his finals at Harvard.
A breathtaking performance of the entire concerto followed. Though many children were present, there was absolute silence in the hall as they listened. Janet Haas, Director of Orchestras in the Lexington Public Schools, called it a "spectacular experience. The open rehearsal was wonderful and getting to hear Stefan play was indescribable. What a gifted young man. [My students] were quite taken with what they heard."
Upcoming concerts of the Lexington Sinfonietta include a performance featuring international artist James Buswell as guest conductor and solo violinist on February 11th, and a Children's Event on the afternoon of April 8th with interactive workshop and one-hour concert for kids, followed by the full evening concert at 8pm, both with Jonathan McPhee as conductor. Individual advance tickets for Lexington Sinfonietta performances can be purchased with credit card on-line at www.lexingtonsinfonietta.org, at Wales Copy Center (1792 Mass Ave, Lexington Center), or by calling (781) 863-9581. Ticket prices are $25/$20; students half-price. Children's Event tickets: $12 adult/$8 child.
