Flying V Fights: A Violin’s Journey

To me, the violin is one of the most powerful instruments. I’m obviously biased, as a violinist myself, but it’s an instrument that on its own can capture a dazzling array of timbres and tones. It can sound eerily close to the human voice, be it a dirge-like wail or a haunting lullaby.

But more important than the sound is the instrument itself. The first recorded violins, violas, and cellos appeared in the 1530s. That’s 475 years ago. Despite numerous modifications and improvements, the violin has remained mostly the same since its initial creation, outlasting its predecessors like the viell and the revve.

Violins are survivors.

(c) Melissa Blackall Photography

The current violin I’m playing is a beautiful, old piece with the temperament of a grumpy old man. When I first met him, he was in my neighbor’s attic in several pieces. A broken, dusty set of woodscraps and strings. There was absolutely nothing remarkable about him. “It’s been passed down through my family for generations,  but no one plays anymore.” Which is why he wound up in my hands as a gift. At the time, I worked a part time job, and with some help from my Mother, I got him restored and slightly modernized. I gave him the name “Wolfgang”, after Mozart. I had no idea the name would bear any form of significant meaning.

Wolfgang, as it turned out, was made during Mozart’s lifetime. “Wolfgang” is also old German for “Wolf’s Path”. My violin is over two centuries old, born in Czechoslovakia in the late 1700’s. (Both facts indicate that it’s definitely not a Stradivarius piece; he died in 1730’s and lived in Cremona.) Inspired by the film “The Red Violin”, I try to imagine the journey this violin had taken, only to wind up for the past however-many years resting in that dusty old attic. How did it come to be broken? Why is “1914” carved into the scroll? What outrageous fortune it was to be bequeathed such a rare gem?

When I play, I sometimes imagine that I can hear all the voices that my violin carried with him throughout the years. This instrument, this very instrument, was made from a once living tree and preserved to last through the ages. The strings are quite new. The tailpiece, and tuning pegs are new. The bridge I had replaced just a few years back…but the soul of the instrument is still there, resonating with each note I play. My violin is a survivor.

This is something that resonates deeply within me, as well. I may not have lived for two centuries (or have I? You don’t know), but I’ve survived through my own traumatic experiences in childhood. I’ve survived in near crippling poverty. I’ve survived despite the number of times where I should be dead. I’m currently surviving through ongoing (but silent) battles with depression. I’m surviving in a society where I could still very well be the victim of a hate crime, or the victim of an unfortunate police encounter. I’m surviving. I won’t dare claim to say that my survival stories equate to those who have survived through war, sexual assault, or other traumas, but all the same, I’m surviving.

Flying V Fights: Love is a Battlefield (c) Ryan Maxwell Photography

And not only are Wolfgang and I surviving, we’re always moving forward. I’ve had the remarkable opportunity to play violin in so many theatrical works, from The Bacchae with WSC Avant Bard to Agnes Under the Big Top at Forum Theatre, Taming of the Shrew and Fall of the House of Usher with Pallas Theatre Collective to One Man, Two Guv’nors at 1st Stage and even in Drunkle Vanya with LiveArtDC! There are always opportunities for live music on stage, and it’s an amazing privilege being able to combine my two greatest passions in the same space. My friends, you got a glimpse of my violin-playing last year in Flying V Fights: Love is a Battlefield, but I’m prepared to show you just what I can do with this instrument of mine.  My violin’s ancient voice is taking on his most wicked tone yet  as I step back into the shoes of mankind’s oldest enemy: The Devil.  Not only will we show you how we’ve survived; we’ll show you how we’re going to thrive.