By Igor Studenkov | Bugle Staff
nweditor@buglenewspapers.com
@NilesILNews
Violin virtuoso Rachel Barton Pine performed with the Park Ridge Civic Orchestra Jan. 27. But, a day before, she did something a bit more low key.
Pine stopped by Maine South High School and Maine East High School Jan. 26 to give orchestra students a “master class.” Part lecture, part performance, it delved into the history of violins, the elements that go into the sound they produce and just how versatile the instrument can be.
A Chicago native, Pine has been playing violin since she was 3, and she has been playing professionally since she was 14. Since then, she has won a number of awards and honors, and performed at a wide number of prestigious venues in the U.S. and throughout the world. While Pine is best known for her classical music performances, she has also played rock and heavy metal.
As she mentioned during the class, there is more overlap between classical and metal music than people may assume, and that some of metal’s biggest stars knew more about classical music than she expected.
Over the years, Pine has held presentations at various schools on a number of occasions. According to the violinist’s official website, those presentations are part of her effort to encourage musical education throughout the world and help young musicians develop their talents.
David Beery, the Maine Township High School District 207 director of communications, told the Bugle that the visit wasn’t Pine’s first time at Maine South or Maine East. She did something similar in February 2014, ahead of her performance with the Park Ridge Civic Orchestra. According to the orchestra’s press release, that visit inspired a record number of students to attend the concert itself.
“Her school visits created a sensation, resulting in 85 students attending her performance – a record for PRCO’s free student ticket initiative,” the press release stated. “Students at Maine East created a welcome sign outside the school auditorium and presented her with flowers on stage following her concerto performance with the PRCO.”
The Bugle got a chance to sit in on Pine’s Maine East class, which took place at 2 p.m. at the school’s auditorium. The violinist talked about the history of the instrument, explaining how the design of the violin itself and the design of the bow changed the sound. She demonstrated the latter, showing how the older baroque bow resulted in a slight but noticeably different sound than the modern bow. She also explained how it affects her ability to produce the kind of sound baroque era composers intended.
“The modern bow is going to be a bit more gutsy, punch up the notes a bit more,” explained Pine. “I’m working harder for the results, but [baroque bow] does it by itself.”
The chance, she explained, was largely driven by the demands of the time. When violins were invented, the violinists usually performed in smaller venues for wealthy patrons. But as the middle class grew, so did the demand for larger-scale performances, which required louder sound.
She also talked about a history of her own violin – a 1742 De Gesu previously used by violinist Marie Soldat. Pine explained that, as is often the case with violinists, she doesn’t own her instrument outright, but its owner gave her a lifetime loan.
“When I have to go through airport security, I have to say it’s a Stradivarius,” said Pine. “And then I have to apologize to it for insulting it.”
She then delved into how versatile the sound of the violin could be, using “twinkle twinkle little star” as an example. She had students suggest different moods – such as anger, envy, depression and love – and she showed how she could change the pitch, tempo and other factors to evoke a different mood while still leaving the melody recognizable.
In another demonstration, Pine showed how the violin could be used in music originally composed for other instruments, playing a medley of Chicago-themed jazz and blues songs and a medley of Scottish folk songs.
Pine then took questions from the students. Some questions were light-hearted, such as what animal she was.
“Maybe a unicorn pegasus,” Pine replied after thinking it over. “Because it’s colorful, but soaring and magical.”
Other questions were more serious. One student asked what she was most proud of.
Pine explained that while she has been praised for many aspects of her technique, some of those things came naturally. What she was proud of were things she had to struggle with, things that took years to perfect.
Many students asked about day-to-day aspects of her career, such as how she finds time to practice amidst her many commitments.
“You have to be very organized,” said Pine. “You have to be disciplined. I try to organize a few hours every day to practice no matter what.”
Sometimes, she said, it meant practicing for small stretches of time. Pine added that she enjoyed the class.
“I loved that the students seemed in really interested,” she said. “And they obviously loved music so much. They were very attentive and enthusiastic.”
Pine mentioned that one of the things she most enjoyed about being a violinist was that, no matter how time passes, she keeps getting better.
“That’s why I love music,” she said. “If I were an athlete, I’d be in decline. [But with music], the more you play, the more insight you gain.”