History of the Solo Violin Concert, by Shawn Moore

40/50 RMB

Join violinist Shawn Patrick Moore 莫灵风 for an evening of music and discussion. Shawn will intersperse talk on the historical development of violin as a solo instrument with performance of violin pieces. Attendees are invited to comment or ask questions throughout the program. Talk with be conducted in Mandarin and English.

 

While the violin is primarily a monophonic instrument , there is a long tradition of compositions for the violin as an unaccompanied instrument, from as early as the 17th century. The pieces curated for this performance will trace the musical and technical developments of this genre of the violin repertoire, from Bach to Mark O’Connor. The violin’s roles in the symphony orchestra, chamber music and even as a solo instrument are generally to perform the melody or provide some contrapuntal line in accompaniment to the melody, but there are beautiful works in the repertoire where the violin is both soloist and the accompaniment. The instrument’s design does not naturally support the simultaneous performance of multiple voices, or polyphony, and therefore, the polyphonic music of these composers is as notable for its great difficulty as much as for its artistic value – the ability of composers such as Bach to write in such a way as to make the impossible, possible.

 

The Berkshire Review describes American concert violinist Shawn Patrick Moore as

possessing “a very appealing directness in his approach”. He is a keen chamber

musician, performing regularly at the Bard Music Festival, the Geneva Music festival, Kneisel hall and other venues throughout the world. He is also a founding member of the Kalmia String Quartet, whose work can be heard on Parma records. Comfortable with a diverse variety of musical styles, Shawn has also collaborated with artists such as DJ Spooky and multi-platinum artist Natalie Merchant, with whom the Kalmia quartet recently toured and recorded an album. A graduate of Bard College, he also received a Master of Music from the Yale School of Music. Shawn was a 2013 Yale Light Fellow to Korea and during that period studied at Yonsei University. Shawn is based in Beijing, and is also an admissions officer for Bard College, primarily focused on East Asia.