WETA: Rachel Barton Pine Speaks about Music by Black Composers
In 1997, I was invited to record my first concerto album. As I was quite young, I decided to wait a little longer before doing major concertos like Brahms, Mendelssohn, and Beethoven (all of which I’ve since recorded). Instead, the plan was to find some overlooked but wonderful repertoire for violin and orchestra. Thanks to the African-American conductors active in my hometown of Chicago when I was a teenager – Michael Morgan, Paul Freeman, and Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson – I was aware that there were numerous fantastic works by composers of African descent going all the way back to the 1700s. As a fan of the violin, I was really excited by the idea of introducing violin repertoire to the public which would be new discoveries for almost everyone.
During one of my excursions to a library archive, I saw a huge replica of an historic painting on the wall – a Black man in an 18th-Century wig with a sword and a violin. Whoa! Awesome album cover alert! Of course, it was Joseph Bologne, the Chevalier de Saint-Georges, and I fell in love with his music. I included his Violin Concerto in A Major on my album, Violin Concertos by Black Composers Through the Centuries, alongside works by José White and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (and now Florence Price, in the 25th anniversary re-release).
WETA
Editor's Note: Critically-acclaimed violin soloist Rachel Barton Pine writes this guest blog, speaking about her foundation's initiative, Music By Black Composers.
In 1997, I was invited to record my first concerto album. As I was quite young, I decided to wait a little longer before doing major concertos like Brahms, Mendelssohn, and Beethoven (all of which I’ve since recorded). Instead, the plan was to find some overlooked but wonderful repertoire for violin and orchestra. Thanks to the African-American conductors active in my hometown of Chicago when I was a teenager – Michael Morgan, Paul Freeman, and Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson – I was aware that there were numerous fantastic works by composers of African descent going all the way back to the 1700s. As a fan of the violin, I was really excited by the idea of introducing violin repertoire to the public which would be new discoveries for almost everyone.
During one of my excursions to a library archive, I saw a huge replica of an historic painting on the wall – a Black man in an 18th-Century wig with a sword and a violin. Whoa! Awesome album cover alert! Of course, it was Joseph Bologne, the Chevalier de Saint-Georges, and I fell in love with his music. I included his Violin Concerto in A Major on my album, Violin Concertos by Black Composers Through the Centuries, alongside works by José White and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (and now Florence Price, in the 25th anniversary re-release).
When I released this record, I was just thinking, this is gorgeous violin music that should have been part of our canon all along, and I’m excited to share it! Almost immediately, I started receiving numerous requestions from students, parents, and teachers, asking for more of this repertoire.
Read more here.
Photo Credit: Lisa-Marie Mazzucco
Strings: Heavy Metal Meets Classical: Rachel Barton Pine Finds a Common Ground
Stickers for Metallica, Slayer, and Anthrax are emblazoned on the case that contains Rachel Barton Pine’s signature “ex-Bazzini, ex-Soldat” Joseph Guarneri del Gesù from 1742. The charismatic violinist doesn’t just defy categories. Her life as an artist is fueled by omnivorous curiosity, which Pine combines with searing musical intelligence and an impeccable virtuosity—all in the service of finding a deep connection to her audience.
The span of Pine’s interests reinforces the inadequacy of the catch-all label “classical music.” Her commitment to early music alone ranges from the medieval period to rediscovered gems of the Baroque. Pine, who celebrates her milestone 50th birthday later this year, has recorded acclaimed interpretations of standard classical repertoire but is also an avid champion of contemporary composers. Her prolific discography, which comprises more than 30 albums to date, additionally documents the violinist’s passion for Chicago blues, Scottish fiddling, and heavy metal.
Strings
By Thomas May
Stickers for Metallica, Slayer, and Anthrax are emblazoned on the case that contains Rachel Barton Pine’s signature “ex-Bazzini, ex-Soldat” Joseph Guarneri del Gesù from 1742. The charismatic violinist doesn’t just defy categories. Her life as an artist is fueled by omnivorous curiosity, which Pine combines with searing musical intelligence and an impeccable virtuosity—all in the service of finding a deep connection to her audience.
The span of Pine’s interests reinforces the inadequacy of the catch-all label “classical music.” Her commitment to early music alone ranges from the medieval period to rediscovered gems of the Baroque. Pine, who celebrates her milestone 50th birthday later this year, has recorded acclaimed interpretations of standard classical repertoire but is also an avid champion of contemporary composers. Her prolific discography, which comprises more than 30 albums to date, additionally documents the violinist’s passion for Chicago blues, Scottish fiddling, and heavy metal.
Read more here.
Violinist: Rachel Barton Pine Performs Billy Childs' Violin Concerto at the Hollywood Bowl
What a pleasure to see Chicago-based violinist Rachel Barton Pine on Thursday night in her debut performance with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, which was also her first performance at the Hollywood Bowl.
It's about time!
Violinist
By Laurie Niles
What a pleasure to see Chicago-based violinist Rachel Barton Pine on Thursday night in her debut performance with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, which was also her first performance at the Hollywood Bowl.
It's about time!
And it's no surprise - to someone who has been following her for many years - that she brought something fresh to the stage - a new violin concerto by Los Angeles jazz pianist and composer, Billy Childs. This was just the fifth performance of the concerto, which was composed in 2020 and premiered in 2022. It was commissioned by Rachel and performed previously by her with co-commissioning orchestras: the Grant Park Orchestra, the Boulder Philharmonic, the Anchorage Symphony, and the Interlochen Arts Academy Orchestra.
On Thursday Rachel - playing her 1742 "ex-Bazzini, ex-Soldat" Joseph Guarnerius “del Gesù” violin - brought the concerto to life with her virtuoso chops, musical sensitivity and intense commitment, with French conductor Stéphane Denève at the podium. (Denève, who is Music Director of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, starts as as Music Director of New World Symphony in September.)
Read more here.
Washington Classical Review: Pine, Fairfax Symphony give worthy advocacy to revived Price concerto
Florence Price composed her Violin Concerto No. 2 in 1952. As violinist Rachel Barton Pine remarked before performing it with the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra led by Christopher Zimmerman Saturday night, its creation seems to have been driven by a pure personal need to write a concerto. Price had not received a commission, and no one performed it before she died a year later. Price never had a publisher, a circumstance likely explained by the prejudices she had to contend with as a black woman.
This concerto was lost to history until its manuscript was found in a trunk in an abandoned house in 2009, along with many other Price compositions. It was a fortuitous discovery, as Saturday’s performance at the George Mason University’s Center for the Arts showed.
Washington Classical Review
By Andrew Lindemann Malone
Florence Price composed her Violin Concerto No. 2 in 1952. As violinist Rachel Barton Pine remarked before performing it with the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra led by Christopher Zimmerman Saturday night, its creation seems to have been driven by a pure personal need to write a concerto. Price had not received a commission, and no one performed it before she died a year later. Price never had a publisher, a circumstance likely explained by the prejudices she had to contend with as a black woman.
This concerto was lost to history until its manuscript was found in a trunk in an abandoned house in 2009, along with many other Price compositions. It was a fortuitous discovery, as Saturday’s performance at the George Mason University’s Center for the Arts showed.
Cast in one movement, the concerto features two recurring themes: a stern fanfare, broken up by delicate celeste, and a soulful melody tinged with gospel harmonies. The music in between doesn’t develop the themes so much as ruminate on them; thoughts wander in intriguing ways before returning to the main themes, which themselves undergo subtle transformations. Price demands a lot of the violinist, but the virtuoso techniques serve the contemplative mood. It’s a work that makes you want to hear it again, to see what glimmering texture or striking phrase catches your ear next, and to find out more about how they connect.
Read more here.
WETA: The Music of Florence Price with Rachel Barton Pine and the Fairfax Symphony
Violinist Rachel Barton Pine will be featured with the Fairfax Symphony performing Florence Price's Violin Concerto No. 2 in a concert on February 11 at the Center for the Arts at George Mason University. I reached out to her to ask about this performance and its place in the context of her career.
WETA
By Evan Keely
Violinist Rachel Barton Pine will be featured with the Fairfax Symphony performing Florence Price's Violin Concerto No. 2 in a concert on February 11 at the Center for the Arts at George Mason University. I reached out to her to ask about this performance and its place in the context of her career.
Evan Keely: You’ve had a long relationship with Cedille Records. Tell us about that, and the genesis of the 1997 album Violin Concertos by Black Composers of the 18th and 19th Centuries (and its 25th-anniversary counterpart, Violin Concertos by Black Composers Through the Centuries).
Rachel Barton Pine: When I was new on the scene back in 1996, Jim Ginsburg – the founder of Cedille Records and my longtime producer, who is Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s son – approached me after one of my performances and said that it would be great to start working together. My career was still in such an early stage that I didn't yet feel quite ready to record the major concertos. Of course, since then, I've recorded all the most popular ones including Brahms, Beethoven, Bruch, and Mendelssohn. But to start with, we wanted to do something that was more repertoire-oriented – where people might buy the album, even if they hadn’t yet heard of the soloist.
Read more here.