http://www.markoconnor.com
http://www.youtube.com/user/MarkOConnor
Scott Goldman,
Vice President of the
Grammy Foundation and MusiCares interviews
Mark O'Connor on his career in music, his
Grammy winning and nominated recordings, his childhood years, teachers, mentors, bands and the
O'Connor Method. It is an in-depth, candid and revealing interview of one of the great musician of our time. July 27th,
2015
Mark O'Connor is an astonishingly versatile
American violinist and composer who has had exceptional success melding various genres of music -- country and bluegrass, jazz, and classical -- into his own unique style and voice. This has resulted in two
Grammy awards; dozens of his own albums; collaborations with a diversity of other musicians, such as
Yo-Yo Ma,
Edgar Meyer,
Renée Fleming,
James Taylor, Christ
Thile,
Alison Krauss, and
Marin Alsop; and a playing method program widely used by string students.
O'Connor first took classical guitar lessons as a child and taught himself to play flamenco music, before beginning fiddle lessons at age 11.
Soon he was studying with
Benny Thomasson, an icon of
American fiddling. In his late teens, O'Connor next became a student of jazz violinist
Stephane Grapelli, touring with him as well. O'Connor then worked with
Dave Grisman and his
Quintet and with
Steve Morse of the Dregs. Between
1975 and
1982, O'Connor won competitions as a guitarist, fiddler, and mandolinist. He moved to
Nashville in
1983, becoming a session player for many country stars, such as the
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band,
Emmylou Harris, and
Randy Travis. O'Connor, Edgar Meyer,
Bela Fleck,
Jerry Douglas, and
Sam Bush formed the band
Strength in Numbers in
1986, which played some of O'Connor's own pieces. His first
Grammy award came in
1991 for his
album New Nashville Cats. His music became increasingly sophisticated, utilizing elements of folk, classical, jazz, and world music -- what he calls the "four pillars of string playing," while he absorbed more technical knowledge from artists like
Isaac Stern,
Itzhak Perlman, Yehudi Menhuin, and
Pinchas Zukerman.
His first album on
Sony Classical,
Appalachia Waltz (
1996), with cellist Yo-Yo Ma and bassist Edgar Meyer, impressed classical critics with its originality and attractiveness and became a huge crossover hit. The trio's next album,
Appalachia Journey (
2000), won O'Connor his second Grammy award. His
Fiddle Concerto, composed in
1993, has been performed around the world hundreds of times. By
2010, he had written another six concertos and the
Americana Symphony, recorded by Marin Alsop and the
Baltimore Symphony. He recorded his
String Quartets No. 2 "
Bluegrass" and
No. 3 "Old-Time" in 2009 with
Ida Kavafian,
Paul Neubauer, and
Matt Haimovitz. That same year saw the publication of the first book of his string teaching method.
The Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Field,
Gloriae Dei Cantores, the
Eroica Trio -- for whom he wrote
Poets and
Prophets, inspired by the music of
Johnny Cash -- and film director
Ken Burns are among those who have commissioned new music from O'Connor. The
2001 release,
Hot Swing!, with
Jon Burr and
Frank Vignola, was a tribute to
Grappelli; the same Hot Swing
Trio released
Live in New York in 2009. He had Renée Fleming, Alison Krauss, and James Taylor among his guests for An Appalachian
Christmas (
2011), which also became an annual touring show. In 2015, O'Connor and his wife
Maggie released their first album together, Duo.
Multi Grammy-winning
Mark O’Connor has authored the fastest growing string method in a generation and based upon much research, testing and artistic skills.
The O'Connor Method for violin, viola, cello and orchestra.
Music from
United States,
Mexico,
Latin American and
Canada. American
Classical Music, Hoedowns,
Blues,
Spirituals,
Ragtime,
Jazz,
Bach,
Baroque,
Hymns, Bluegrass,
Folk Songs,
Rock, Ranchero,
Jigs,
Choros, modern compositions and much more.
Technique,
Solo,
Ensemble,
String Orchestra,
Classics,
Creativity,
Improvisation,
Cultural Diversity, Music of different eras, Individual expression
. 500 hundred years of music for the violin and strings that creates relevance to the
21st century.
For more information on the O'Connor Method for violin, viola, cello and orchestra, please visit http://www.oconnormethod.com
Playlist created by The O'Connor Method on YouTube.
Watch here:
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL30538F811506AE84&feature;=mh_lolz
For more information on Mark O'Connor,
String Camps, The O'Connor Method, ensembles, repertoire, sheet music and more, please visit http://www.markoconnor.com
http://www.oconnormethodcampnyc.com
https://twitter.com/#!/markoconnor35
http://www.facebook.com/markoconnorfanpage
http://americanstrings.blogspot.com
- published: 03 Sep 2015
- views: 1223