One night only - Vilcek Foundation hosts Mari Kimura

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Virtuoso violinist and composer to premiere new work and groundbreaking bowing technique

On May 20, violinist Mari Kimura, whose playing the New York Times has called “chilling,” “gripping,” “charming,” “a virtuoso playing at the edge,” will take the stage at the Bohemian National Hall to showcase her talent as an interpreter of classical music, a performer/composer, and innovator in digital technology for musical expression. In addition to performing a short movement of Johann Sebastian Bach, Ms. Kimura will premiere new compositions, written especially for this concert, and demonstrate her revolutionary extended bowing technique, Subharmonics.

On one of her new compositions “Duet x2” for violin, cello and interactive computer Ms. Kimura will be accompanied by Grammy Award-nominated cellist Dave Eggar. Wearing customfit sensor gloves, designed by Mark Salinas, the duo will implement a new technology, developed by the Realtime Musical Interaction Team at the Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique (IRCAM) in Paris, that tracks bowing motions, thus giving musical expression to the two bows as they interact. Another of Ms. Kimura’s premiere compositions, “JanMaricana for Subharmonics,” is dedicated to Jan and Marica Vilcek, founders of the Vilcek Foundation and hosts for this evening of contemporary musical artistry. This piece will utilize the Subharmonic Fifth, a never-before-performed method of Subharmonics, developed just this year by Ms. Kimura. In 1994, Ms. Kimura introduced the Subharmonic Octave to the public. This technique called revolutionary” by the New York Times allows a violinist to play one full octave below the open G, traditionally the lowest note on the violin, without changing the instrument’s tuning.

Rick Kinsel, Executive Director of the Vilcek Foundation, said, “It’s a privilege to be able to present an artist of the caliber of Mari Kimura, whose exploration and mapping of the world below G has boldly redefined our understanding of the resources of the violin, further expanding the horizons of classical and electronic music at a time when many critics were decrying that the end was in sight for both."

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