Few instruments are as legendary as the Stradivarius violin – considered to have an amazing, unmatched sound. And on the opening night of the Sedona International Film Festival, you can hear violinist Elizabeth Pitcairn play one. Prior to the performance on June 12, attendees can watch a showing of “The Red Violin” at 4 p.m. The Red Mendelssohn Stradivarius of 1720 she’ll be playing is said to have inspired this Academy Award-winning film starring Samuel L. Jackson. The violin was a gift from Elizabeth’s grandfather. She’s been playing since she was three and made her orchestra debut at 14. She’s also the president and artistic director of the Luzerne Music Center, a summer music camp for kids ages 9 to 18 located in the Adirondacks in New York. In her spare time, she enjoys horseback riding and skiing. She’s from a family of philanthropists. “I feel a really strong sense of duty and giving back and helping others,” she says. Learn more about Elizabeth, her prized violin and what she’s looking forward to about her first visit to Sedona. Elizabeth will perform at 7 p.m. “The Red Violin” will show at 4 p.m. and be followed by a reception in the lobby of the Sedona Performing Arts Center. Visit elizabethpitcairn.com and sedonafilmfestival.com for more information.
SEDONA MONTHLY: What are you most looking forward to about your first visit to Sedona?
ELIZABETH PITCAIRN: I am looking forward to meeting the people of Sedona and the community. And I’ve heard about the incredible vortexes of energy. And so I’m looking forward to a really kind of a peaceful, restful, spiritual time there. I’m going to come in a few days early, because I have to leave immediately to go for another concert and then to the camp. And I hope that this is the start of many more visits to come in my life.
What will be you playing and why did you select the pieces that you did?
Some of my favorite violin virtuoso pieces. These are all pieces that are written for violin and piano. And they really showcase the instrument and everything that the violin can do. So there’ll be a range of styles and moods. Preludes by Gershwin. There will be the theme from “Schindler’s List” by John Williams. And a couple of pieces by the Viennese virtuoso violinist, Fritz Kreisler. He composed these in the early 1900s, waltz-style, very light-hearted. From bravura to melancholy to nostalgic to uplifting and inspiring.
What’s it like owning this violin?
Spiritually, I just simply feel like I’m the lifetime caretaker of it, and that we were matched together, and we’re on this journey together. The violin had already a 300-year journey, minus the 30 years that I’ve been with it. It was really fate, a destiny. Even the previous owner for the Mendelssohn family, when they had a quartet of Stradivarius, it was the oldest daughter of the family Lilli von Mendelssohn. She was the only other known woman to have played the red violin.
What’s it like playing this violin? Do feel and hear a difference?
Yes. It is startling and striking. And particularly, when you get to see what it can do, when you get into the performance space, like when I come to Sedona and I’m in the concert hall, that’s where the violin, you find out the abilities of its range and carrying power. And it has a remarkable silkiness, sheen and polished beauty around the sound. Plus, it’s got this depth of volume. And it has so many different colors, things you can do with the sound. Like a really great wine that has a finish that lasts a long time and has had lots of interest, and you can taste all sorts of different things in it. So it’s the same thing with the sound of this instrument. I am endlessly discovering colors and moods and sounds, which is the fun part. As we grow together, you can always find more and more in it. And then also, it just has the power to cut across big symphony orchestra. You’re on stage in front of 60 other musicians, and you’re standing there and you’ve got to be heard, and there’s a focus to the sound that Stradivari achieved that people have been trying to achieve ever since, to copy what makes the sound carry. And it’s not necessarily that it’s so loud. It’s just so focused, and there’s a core to it that makes it travel.
It must be neat to hold something that has such a history to it.
It is very humbling, really quite magical. And it’s so much fun to be able to share that in a concert hall with other people, which is the point of it all.
Why should people go to your performance?
I think the greatest compliment you can get in life is when someone tells you, “I really didn’t know if I would like classical music, and I came to hear you play. And I absolutely fell in love with it.” So sometimes I feel like people will come in because of the connection with the story with the film and the movie, and they’re intrigued. But I’m just so honored to bring these beautiful pieces and the sound and that ability to connect with the music and with the audience to take people on a journey that people have said that they feel transported and taken outside of themselves. And I truly believe music has a special healing and calming power. So that’s why they should come if they want to feel that.
