Press Release
Bach Cycling to the Future: Violinist Nicholas Kitchen leads an exploration through the solo violin music of Bach, Bartok, Hindemith, and Ysaye.
Internationally acclaimed violinist Nicholas Kitchen, of the famed Borromeo String Quartet, will project Bach’s original manuscript onto the stage during his performance at the Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre
Cape Cod, MA —Violinist Nicholas Kitchen, hailed by the New York Times as "thrilling, vibrant and captivating," is considered by both his musical peers and audiences around the world to be one of the most gifted musicians of our time. And indeed, with a multifaceted career as soloist, chamber musician, recording artist, teacher, arts administrator, author, and media innovator, Mr. Kitchen is also one of our country's most active personalities. He is a founding member of the famed Borromeo String Quartet, who are avidly sought after internationally for their “heart stopping” and “visionary” performances as well as their uncanny ability to make even the most challenging contemporary music mesmerizing to audiences.
In 2006 Mr. Kitchen completed a six-year tenure as Artistic Director of the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival where he hosted their popular Adventures in Chamber Music audience discussion series.
On October 25, 2009 at 3:00 PM the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival presents Nicholas Kitchen in a program mysteriously called “Bach Cycling to the Future.” Kitchen will lead an exploration through the solo violin music of Bach, Bartok, Hindemith, and Ysaye with video projections of manuscripts and a discussion of the cyclical construction of the Bach Sonatas and Partitas, and music influenced by it. The concert with be held on the Julie Harris Stage of the Wellfleet Actor's Theatre, Route 6, in Wellfleet Massachusetts. Tickets are $32 General Admission, $15 for students and free to anyone 18 or under and can be purchased by calling 508.247.9400.
“The individual works in Bach’s “Sei Solo a Violino senza Basso accompagnato” form a beautiful and emotionally powerful cycle” says Mr. Kitchen. “When I’ve presented this cycle before, I have found audiences are very moved by its enormous architecture and profound emotional content - all drawn from the tiny box of one violin.” The Partita in D minor, which he will perform at this concert, concludes with the famous and deeply moving “Chaconne,” believed to have been written by Bach in memory of his wife Barbara.
This past May, Mr. Kitchen performed a special concert of the complete Sonatas and Partitas of Bach for Solo Violin using five legendary Cremonese Instruments in the collection the Library of Congress, including his own, the Guarneri Del Gesu violin known as the "Baron Vitta."
Kitchen, a recipient of both the Albert Schweitzer Medallion for Artistry and the Presidential Scholar in the Arts award, is particularly noted for his masterclasses and informal public discussions about challenging music. He is a faculty member of the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, where he works with the institutions Learning through Music program and hosts the Borromeo Quartet's exploratory series "Early Evenings with the Borromeo" which regularly attracts standing-room-only crowds. He also performs as a member of the critical acclaimed Music From the Copland House ensemble.
More information on Nicholas Kitchen
An avid lover of the contextual possibilities of integrating technology and music, Mr. Kitchen works with Macintosh-based software to develop interactive multimedia children's outreach programs, as well as an internet based learning tool called “Simulscore” which allows listeners to read from digitized original manuscripts of music scores while watching filmed performances of the Borromeo. In 2003 Mr. Kitchen made classical music history by creating the Living Archive recording series, which produces immediate on-demand CDs and DVDs of live concerts of the Borromeo Quartets around the world. In 2005 he collaborated with violinist Midori and the Cotuit Center for the Arts on a multimedia performance of the Four Season and is currently collaborating with the Library of Congress on a series of educational materials that hope to encourage enthusiasm and sensitivity to the arts.
On April 24, 2006, the famous Guarneri Del Gesu violin known as the "Baron Vitta" was entrusted into the care of Mr. Nicholas Kitchen after being generously given to the Library of Congress by Miyoko Yamane Goldberg - the wife of legendary violinist Szymon Goldberg - so that it could be reunited with its original twin, the violin Fritz Kreisler played.
Nicholas Kitchen's appearances as a soloist and chamber musician have taken him across the United States and to more than 25 countries, performing in many of the world's most illustrious concert halls, including the Philharmonie in Berlin, the Tonhalle in Zurich, Dvorak Hall in Prague, the Opera Bastille in Paris, Wigmore Hall in London, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Suntory and Dai-Ichi Semei Halls in Tokyo, and Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall in New York, and the Library of Congress in Washington. He has worked with many distinguished conductors, including Michael Tilson Thomas and Otto Werner Mueller, and has recorded for Denon, Albany, Arabesque, Centaur and Image Recordings.
Kitchen is a frequent guest artist at a great many international music festivals, including the Spoleto Festival in the U.S. and Italy, the Vancouver Chamber Music Festival, the Stavanger Festival in Norway, Chamber Music Northwest, the Orlando Festival in the Netherlands, the Prague Spring Festival, the Music Isle Festival in Korea, the and Santa Fe and La Jolla Chamber Music Festivals.
For many years Mr. Kitchen has played the A. J. Fletcher Stradivarius, a violin generously purchased expressly for long-term loan to him by the A. J. Fletcher Foundation of Raleigh, NC.
For more information please visit http://www.borromeoquartet.com and http://www.borromeoquartet.org/artist.php?view=cal&cid=4172
About the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival
Hailed by the New York Times as "A Triumph of Quality", the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival has grown to become an established year-round presenter of chamber music and a major contributor to the cultural life of Cape Cod since its inception in 1979. For more information please visit: http://www.capecodchambermusic.org/about.html
Photo by Christian Steiner
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