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[bright violin music]
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- Julian Rhee:
My name is Julian Rhee.
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I am a violinist.
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And I'm mostly based in New York
these days,
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but was born and raised
in Brookfield, Wisconsin.
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I'm now 25 years old.
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Playing the violin ends up
looking different for me
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every single week.
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Some weeks, it'll be soloing
with orchestras,
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like the Madison Symphony,
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or playing chamber music
with colleagues,
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or in some cases,
I love teaching.
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Otherwise, it'll be running
my own projects or festivals
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and things on the side.
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So, it ends up being
some kind of combination
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of performing
and work off stage too.
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I was born and raised
in Wisconsin
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all the way until I was 18
and went to school.
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So, my parents still live in the
same place that I grew up in.
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I was probably about five
when I started,
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but it wasn't my own choice by
any stretch of the imagination.
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I often wish that I had some
kind of very inspiring story
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of hearing a performer
and that I just chose violin,
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but no, it was my mom putting
the violin in my hand
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and telling me to practice.
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So, it became a kind of love
over time, if you will.
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Now it feels like a intentional
choice that I went into music.
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It was something
I wanted to do.
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I had time to think about it and
really make sure it was for me.
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I went to New England
Conservatory
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for my bachelor's and master's.
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I spent a full six years
in Boston.
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When you finish those
initial degrees,
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sometimes knowing what the next
step is is a little less clear.
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I ended up going the route
of studying in Europe.
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And so, there's a
wonderful academy in Germany
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called the Kronberg Academy.
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So, I go back to Germany
maybe every couple months.
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So, I have an apartment
in Germany.
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I spend part of my time
during the year there,
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have concerts, lessons,
master classes, chamber music,
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and then the other part
of the time, I'm in New York.
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The instrument I've had the
immense pleasure to be playing
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the last four years now
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has been the 1699 Lady Tennant
Stradivarius,
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probably somewhere
nearing $10 million
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probably at this point.
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So, it's not something certainly
a 25-year-old
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just fresh out of school
can afford.
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Well, maybe some can,
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but certainly not this one.
[chuckles]
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There's a wonderful organization
in Chicago
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called the Stradivari Society.
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So, this organization
pairs players with donors
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and those who can afford
owning these instruments
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and putting them together
so that artists can play them
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while donors get to enjoy
their instruments being played.
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And so,
they were incredibly generous
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to let me now be able to play
on this instrument.
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I just remember being so timid,
too, the first week
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'cause I was, I felt everything
I was playing was on eggshells.
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There was a kind of pressure.
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I don't know
if I was gonna drop it,
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or I was gonna lose it, or I was
gonna crush it or scratch it.
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What made it special though
is the work you do over time.
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There is an infinite amount
of colors and possibly layers,
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textures, little changes
in speed and weight
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can create a very,
very different color.
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So, it gives you
the full palette and range
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to be able to express a lot.
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I think I first soloed
with an orchestra
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when I was around eight.
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I've performed with
Maestro DeMain now four times.
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So, I did the Fall Youth
Concerto Competition twice,
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and then did the Bolz Young
Artist Competition twice.
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- John DeMain: In high school,
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he played a movement
of a Brahms violin concerto,
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and we don't expect teenagers
to have the emotional maturity
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and the musical imagination
that he had.
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The string players
in the orchestra were in awe.
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- I remember those experiences
very, very vividly.
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Maestro DeMain, there was a
graciousness to his spirit
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and especially being
in his position,
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I thought he approached things
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with a lot of elegance
and patience.
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This kind of bringing me in,
the kind of flexibility he had
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and he exhibited throughout the
years I got to play with him.
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Those still stick with me.
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And I try in my very, very best
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to embody those characteristics
moving forward
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when I have new experiences
with other people,
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when I am being tough on myself.
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Experiences like what I had here
at Madison,
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they still are very,
very highlighted in my mind.
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It's an unbelievable privilege,
I would say,
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and certainly a humbling honor
to be here
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and to be able
to celebrate something
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that's much bigger than me
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and is celebrating something
incredibly communal.
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- And he's gonna play Sarasate,
a version of the Carmen Fantasy.
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So, it's themes from the opera
Carmen.
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So, it shows off all the,
you know,
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it's a big display of wild stuff
on the violin.
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- This wasn't part of the plan,
actually,
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when we discussed the
repertoire,
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but it ended up this way
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that this was the first piece
I ever played
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with the Madison Symphony
back when I was 11 years old
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for the Fall Youth Concerto
Competition.
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Maestro DeMain is,
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he embodies a kind of communal
and generous spirit,
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a kind excitement to bring
people into the fro.
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And I think being able to then
come back and be a part of that,
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celebrate that legacy, and
what's to come in that spirit,
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it's fitting and it reminds me
of everything I remember
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of being here.
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[ending note]
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[cheers and applause]