Fiddling With New Music

“The violin was the instrument that

carried our culture,” Mark O’Connor

said in a recent talk at Sanders Theatre.

“The stories of what our country went

through are on this instrument.”

O’Connor, a professional violinist

and fi ddler himself, has joined previous

masters as one of the storytellers of

our country. He has focused his musical

career on celebrating and developing

American music, and he shared his

story at the event, co-sponsored by the

Offi ce for the Arts’ Learning from Performers

series and the Harvard American

Music Association.

The embodiment of the American

optimism for O’Connor is the settling

of the Western frontier,

a journey for something

better that permeates

his music. During

the event

O ’ C o n n o r

played his

“ F i d d l e

Concerto,”

which inc

l u d e s

segments

t h a t

m i m i c

galloping and other sounds that create a sense of

wide open spaces and captures the sentiments

of journey and optimism that

inspire him.

“The whole idea of the settling of

this country was marked with struggle,”

O’Connor said. “The idea that we could

all be free gave us a lot of hope and

courage. Our music refl ected this optimism.”

What O’Connor sees as the optimism

of American culture is refl ected

in his eagerness to explore and create

new forms of music.

For O’Connor, an important aspect

of American music is its diversity.

In his talk, he noted that the effects of

the melting pot can be found in American

music, citing the example of Appalachian

fi ddle music that evolved

from both Irish roots and the work of

African-American slaves. This blending

of inspiration is what O’Connor

refers to as cross-pollination, a fusion

of genres that he believes is necessary in

a musician’s development of a unique

and new style. O’Connor embraces all

forms of American music, composing

and recording in a wide array of genres,

including folk, classical, and jazz. Although

he has had success in all of

these genres, his desire to explore was

discouraged early in his career. However,

O’Connor’s fusion of genres has

created a new form of violin music. He

hopes that his creativity and synthesis

of genres will inspire his fellow musicians.

“I think that if you’re going to try

and create a musical movement you

need to force musicians to look outside the box,” O’Connor said. “That is

what I’m trying to do.” He noted that it

is helpful to use the masters as a guide,

but it is necessary to remain inventive.

O’Connor urges musicians to continue

to explore in order to create new styles

of music that our generation can be remembered

by. He believes that his success

has been instrumental in making a

new kind of music career possible. Acoording to O'Connor, cross pollination that at fi rst only occurred when

musicians borrowed from their peers

can now occur within the mind of a

single musician. In are generation, there are a much more informed musician and a much

more informed public that cross-pollination

can take place in the same body

and mind,” O’Connor said. “There’s no

need for the poaching of fi ddle music,

because fi ddle music is being accepted

as a legitimate art form.” The promotion of fiddle and American music is a goal that O’Connor

hopes to achieve as a solo musician

and through his independent record

label, OMAC. His decision to remain a

solo musician and to leave his corporate

label was infl uenced by his desire

to explore, experiment, and promote

American music. O'connor hopes that his innovative

and inspirational compositions and recordings

have helped broaden the scope

of American music. “I think the environment

that we have right now is very

different from what we have had in the

past,” he said. “This is a great time for

violin players to start something new.”