Plucking rare strings at the PAC
The options, as Julia Wedman, recalls were either violin or Jell- O.
She was four, her brother was six, and her dad came home one day and announced they were both going to start playing an instrument. Those were the two he offered, and since she couldn’t see herself playing a gelatin dessert, she chose violin.
It wasn’t until later she realized he said cello.
“I thought that was the most hilarious thing in the world,” she said. “You can’t play an instrument called Jell- O — that’s way too silly — so I’ll take the violin.”
She chose wisely, and Canadian classical music has benefitted. The Saskatoon- born musician is a member of both the baroque ensemble I Furiosi and period instrument group Eybler Quartet, and on Sunday she comes to FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre in St. Catharines as a member of Toronto’s Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra.
Presented by the Gallery Players of Niagara, Close Encounters … in Salzburg will be an afternoon of 17th- century music from a time the viola d’amore thrived. There will be works by Biber, Reincken, and mysterious anonymous works which were only recently discovered.
The viola d’amore stands apart from the rest of the violin family because of its second set of strings which run beneath the fingerboard. They aren’t bowed or plucked, they run in sympathy with the six playing strings. It creates a unique sound by prolonging the tone.
With less than a dozen viola d’amores in Canada, any visit is rare. Performing it in Niagara will
be Tafelmusik’s Thomas Georgi, one of the world’s foremost experts on the instrument.
“It’s a very difficult instrument to play because so many composers wrote in many different ways,” says Wedman. “Part of the challenge of just playing it is figuring out what the composers are talking about with the notations. Tom is a very patient person.”
She’s especially intrigued by the new work, whose composer is unknown.
“( It’s) fantastic music and a really significant addition to the repertoire of the viola d’amore,” she says. “The music is gorgeous, it really is. For everybody around the world playing the viola d’amore, these are very special new pieces for them.”
Wedman gave the viola d’amore a shot once, but it was an ill fit.
“I tried it a little bit, but it’s quite heavy. I’m kind of a short person … so I find the instrument a bit too big for me. But it’s very interesting and beautiful.”
Wedman and Georgi will be joined by Lucas Harris ( lute), Charlotte Nediger ( harpsichord/ organ) and Christopher Verrette ( violin).