“The deepest sincerity
leads to happiness.” – Tim Stephens
Holly Mulcahy, Violin
Photo: Bo Huang
Violinist Holly Mulcahy is a person who approaches every
facet of her life with intention and sincerity. Now in her second season as concertmaster of
the Chattanooga Symphony, Ms. Mulcahy is acting in truly interesting ways to
engage both her musical colleagues and her musical community. “I’m grateful to be in a position where I
can connect people, and when I took this position I did it with the intention
of being a true and human presence in my community,” she said in a telephone
conversation.
“Since being in Chattanooga, I have done things like
inviting both orchestra members and audience members to talk after
concerts. People have responded in
such a beautiful way: orchestra members
come and talk about how they performed during the concert, and audience members
have come and talked about what they liked about those performances. These group discussions help us all see that
there is an intertwined network of people who love the product from all angles,
and they also lend to a feeling of community ownership of an entity.”
Thoughtfully, Holly shared her reasons for acting in ways
that seem unprecedented in the world of classical music. “Our time as performers in classical music
is limited unless we go and fight for it – but we have to remember that the
audience has to be loved as much as we love the music. We need an active and passionate audience,
and we have to remember that we have to cultivate them as much as we cultivate our
skills.” This philosophy is reflected in the way that
Ms. Mulcahy relates to her colleagues as well:
“There are people playing the Chattanooga Symphony who made Carnegie
Hall debuts and some who’ve retired here from bigger jobs. One of the violinists is a former student
of David Oistrakh – everyone adds to this orchestra, and the quality is just
outstanding!”
Ms. Mulcahy’s dynamism and desire to connect is also
reflected in NeoClassical, a
blog in which she shares thoughts about her new community and its openness to
new works and people, the classical music industry, and her own sense of
adventure – that leading to her inspiring a Chattanooga bartender to create a cocktail named "The Awakening" in honor of Jennifer Higdon’s Violin Concerto, which Holly will perform with the Chattanooga
Symphony on March 12, 2015.
“Several months ago, during a post-concert cocktail
gathering with members of my orchestra, audience, board, and staff, I began
talking with one of the bartenders and wondered aloud if he thought he could
capture the essence of a violin concerto in a cocktail,” she said. “My goal was
to offer the cocktail as a device to explain, entice, and invite people to
listen to a newer violin work with an open mind and heart.”
This adventuresome spirit is the perfect one with which
performers and audiences can experience Jennifer Higdon’s captivating concerto,
which was written for and premiered by violinist Hilary Hahn. Written in three movements (“1726”, “Chaconni”,
and” Fly Forward”), this Pulitzer Prize winning concerto is also the ideal
vehicle with which Ms. Mulcahy continues to integrate her desire to help a
community continue embracing itself.
“This concerto was chosen for many reasons, one of which
being that Jennifer’s family is from this area, and orchestras have a sense of
pride and ownership regarding local members and composers. The piece is amazing – it’s so reflective
of her personality, you know that this is HER concerto.”
Holly is also keenly aware of the challenges inherent with
performing modern music. “The human
race doesn’t always want it safe. With
new concerti, a quality work like this pushes an edge – you don’t know how it’s
going to end, but you know that you’re going to have a pretty good ride. The wonder of new works is the music can
definitely result in everyone involved experiencing emotions that we like, yet
in different ways than when we hear standard works.”
“One of the many things I really like about Jennifer is that
her music comes from a very sincere place, and does all of what I mentioned. She also helps musicians and orchestras – a
very vocal advocate for the arts. That
makes her approachable, and in the big picture she helps keep the industry
alive.”
Indeed, Ms.
Higdon has become an incredibly well-recognized force in the music industry.
Her blue cathedral, a two-movement sonic
adventure for orchestra, has become one of America’s most performed
contemporary orchestral works, with more than 500 performances worldwide since
its premiere in 2000. The Violin
Concerto, however, since being premiered by Hilary Hahn, is currently only in
the repertoire of four contemporary violinists, those being Ms. Hahn, recent
Montreal
International Competition winner Benjamin Beilman, Naha Greenholtz
(concertmaster
of the Quad-Cities Symphony) - and Holly Mulcahy.
While having spent several months learning the concerto (“My
neighbors have listened to every facet of this concerto. They have been lovely to accept the major
7ths being pounded out on a regular basis!”), Holly’s admiration for the work
had deepened. “With any composer who
writes sincerely, performances and audience reactions are going to be deeply
personal - you can tell when a composer is writing in a personal level. It’s a unique sound, and there is such a
great chance that the sincerity of her music is going to touch people.”
Ms. Mulcahy has received many accolades from people in the
industry for her approach to embracing a community, and that is reflected in
her views of the Chattanooga. “This
place is an oasis of sorts – a mini-Chicago!
There’s a huge cultural area with galleries, sculptures, and such and incredible
theatre! There’s a group of audiences
for everything and a healthy appreciation for everything.”
“It’s a very pride-filled city. Chattanooga is filled with proud people, but
there’s an intelligence behind it that which creates something larger. You can live a lot of places in the world,
but when you step off a plane or drive into Chattanooga you feel that the people
who have created this place love life.
You can’t help but feel alive - when you’re surrounded by life, you live
better and you’re a better person.”
Violinist Holly Mulcahy performs Jennifer Higdon's Violin Concerto with the Chattanooga Symphony on Thursday, March 12, 2015.
For more information on Ms. Mulcahy, please visit www. hollymulcahy.com.
For more on Ms. Higdon, please visit www.jenniferhigdon.com.
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