Internationally renowned violinist Rachel Barton Pine and her daughter, 12-year-old Sylvia Pine, will close Symphoria’s Jan. 27 Masterworks concert with a performance of Antonio Vivaldi’s Concerto for 2 Violins in A minor. They first performed the Baroque master’s double concerto in 2022, when Sylvia was 10.
They won’t be the only parent-child duo on the Crouse-Hinds stage. Music Director Lawrence Loh will conduct, and his son, Charlie, a student at Brown University, will perform as a substitute in the violin section.
“There’s something so amazing about seeing your children love music,” Loh said. “And to share in performing together is something special. I look forward to shining a spotlight on both Rachel and Sylvia in this concert.”
Barton Pine points out that Vivaldi, himself a virtuoso on the violin, spent more than 30 years as a teacher at a school for orphaned girls, and much of his music was composed for the students. “So,” she said, “having a girl of Sylvia’s age playing his music is exactly what would have been done 300 years ago.”
Educating her daughter in a home-school setting allows Barton Pine to provide the flexibility necessary for Sylvia to develop her interests in performing and composing.
“I’m very lucky to have a really supportive spouse. Greg ran his computer company while traveling with me from 1996 to 2020, and he serves on the board of my RBP Foundation. Our daughter toured with us full time starting when she was three weeks old,” Barton Pine said, adding that she now tours with an assistant because Sylvia is far enough along in her own musical pursuits that Greg takes her to her rehearsals and performances.
“I have to be very organized to fit in my own practicing and professional obligations, whether I’m home or away. Sylvia and I practice violin together every day, either in person or online,” Barton Pine said. “We’re really excited that she just celebrated her 2,500th day in a row of practicing without ever missing a day.”
Widely praised for writing and performing her own cadenzas, which are published and often performed by others, Barton Pine says she sincerely admires her daughter’s creative gifts. “Since her biggest passion is composing, I’m learning a lot from her, too,” she said.
Before the double concerto, Barton Pine will be the featured soloist on Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons.” The performance will be unique because before each section of the popular classic, she will explain the scenes and plots Vivaldi himself created.
Audience members will notice her using a curved bow rather than the modern straight violin bow. She explains, “Vivaldi composed ‘Four Seasons’ in approximately 1720. Violins and bows changed from Baroque style to modern style at the end of the 1700s. Bringing a modern orchestra closer to a Baroque sound, we’ll be using our usual violins but playing with Baroque-style bows, which are curved outwards like a bow and arrow. These special bows have articulations that modern bows can’t make, so the audience will really hear all of the sounds of animals and nature in these descriptive pieces.”
Barton Pine said she, like many of his admirers, has many reasons to love Vivaldi. “But, I particularly like the fact that he’s a fellow redhead,” she said.
Contemporary composer Missy Mazzoli’s “Sinfonia (for Orbiting Spheres)” will open the concert. It’s a piece that she initially composed for small ensemble and, in 2021, arranged for full orchestra. In that format, it has been performed by major orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic. On the website for Wise Music Classical, Mazzoli describes the nine-minute piece as sound in the shape of the solar system, with rococo loops that twist around each other within a larger orbit.
In a divergence from usual programming, Symphoria will perform a full symphony before intermission. Loh said that Johannes Brahms’ Symphony no. 3 in F major “will flow out of Missy Mazzoli’s ‘Orbiting Spheres’ in such a perfect way that it made sense to place it at the beginning of the concert.”
Brahms composed the 35-minute work while summering in the Rhineland in 1883, six years after his second symphony. In the years between, he brought some of his most famous works to life, including his violin concerto and second piano concerto. Good to know for trivia night: a melody from the third movement is sung as “Say No More, It’s Goodbye Again,” by Diahann Carrol in the 1961 movie starring Ingrid Bergman and Tony Perkins, “Goodbye Again.”
DETAILS
What: Masterworks with Lawrence Loh, Rachel Barton Pine
Where: Oncenter Crouse-Hinds Theater, 421 Montgomery St.
When: Jan. 27, at 7:30 p.m.
Run Time: Two hours with one intermission
Conductor Talk: Free for ticket holders at 6:30 p.m.
Tickets: Free for 18 and under to $90 based on seat choice; student discount with I.D.
Purchase: 315-299-5598 or experiencesymphoria.org
Shuttle: Free at 6 p.m. from DeWitt at Hobby Lobby, Camillus at Costco and Liverpool at the Northside Church.
Parking: New: pre-paid concert parking at Equitable Towers Parking Garage. Details on the website. Symphoria ambassadors will be stationed between Crouse Hinds Theater and the garage entrance on Montgomery Street before and after concerts.
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