Got a Question for Mark O’Connor?

Attention string educators and students! Fiddler and educator Mark O’Connor—featured in a recent Strings magazine cover story—will answer your questions about his new American Violin Method in an exclusive Q&A at AllThingsStrings.com in early October. Read the article online. Send your questions to editor Greg Cahill, greg@stringletter.com, subject: Mark O’Connor Q&A, and we’ll consider it for inclusion in this exclusive All Things Strings Community article.

From the ‘Strings Community’ Blogosphere

The volute on a peg box may not be significant, but its seashell shape is a feast for the eyes and soul. Violin maker Jim McKean covers the process of making a scroll and includes advice from his mentor Vahakn Nigogosian in his latest blog, “Making A New Cello: Pt. 22, The Scroll.”
[READ THE BLOG]

Meet the Members of the ‘All Things Strings Community’

Judith Insell

When a young Judith Insell joined her school’s string orchestra in the fifth grade, her intention was to learn the violin. Her teacher, however, assigned her to the viola. When her friend asked what a viola was, Insell replied, “I don’t know, but I guess we’re gonna find out.”

These days, Insell plays in Sojourner, an all-women, African American jazz string trio. She’s also playing in and composing for jazz duos with bassist Joe Fonda and trombonist Reut Regev. “As a performer, I love the exchange of energy and emotion between the audience and myself,” Insell says. “I also love the exchange of ideas, energy, and emotion between the members of an ensemble, be it classical or jazz.”

For Insell, the All Things Strings Community is all about exchange and discovery. “I am enjoying the new connections that I am making with string players from all around the world, especially finding out about other string players that are venturing into the world of improvisation.”

Stephen Katz

As a kid, Stephen Katz longed to be a drummer. His mother, however, encouraged him to take up the cello and he stuck with it, completing graduate studies in cello at the University of Cincinnati College–Conservatory of Music. While composing bowless works, Katz discovered a new technique that he calls “flying pizzicato,” a hybrid thumb-and-finger, individual-note strum. “Without the bow, the cello becomes a set of four long, skinny, tunable drums,” Katz says. “Turns out, I get to be a drummer after all!”

Katz is recording a solo CD that features his flying pizzicato repertoire and plans to publish sheet music for all the tracks through CelloCelli.com. Katz is also teaching workshops where participants learn how they can integrate bowless techniques into their playing.

In his All Things Strings Community profile, Katz has posted videos, songs, and a video tutorial that all showcase his unique style of playing. “I’m thrilled to be part of a network where my own contributions to the string arts are appreciated at face value,” he says. “As the emergence of global culture is reflected in music, and as the number of string players at the creative frontiers continues to grow, the All Things Strings Community helps us get connected, and stay connected.”

Derrik Jordan

Derrik Jordan began his musical career as a singer-songwriter playing guitar and piano, but he was inspired to learn the violin late one night after hearing jazz violinist Stéphane Grappelli on the radio. He continued to write songs and studied composition at Bennington College, where he was first introduced to world music.

Since then Jordan has had many chapters in a musical career that includes traveling to Africa in 2006 with an electric violin to write and record with Senegalese musicians for his CD SuperString Theory Goes to Senegal. His piece “Sky Mirror,” for string quartet, shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute), and electric guitar won the Shakuhachi Chamber Music International Prize 2008.

Jordan’s recently finished commission for the Vermont Symphony Orchestra will be performed in nine venues throughout Vermont in September. “Odzihozo and the Lake” is based on the ancient Abenaki creation story of Lake Champlain. “Writing music gives me a chance to experiment with creating new hybrid styles by combining influences from all over the world,” Jordan says.

He is looking forward to connecting with fellow string players and watching how the All Things Strings Community develops. “I think it has great potential to bring together string players from all over so we can network and share ideas.”