Musical Autobiography

As far as musical families go, mine is definitely a quirky one. I couldn't have come from more different musical tastes. My mom's grandparents hailed from Boone, NC. They played the banjo, piano, and guitar and sang country/spiritual songs. My father's parents listened to Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby and lived in New York City. Somehow, I ended up picking up the violin and playing mostly classical music. However, I have had several experiences that have led me outside of Western classical music.

When I was in eighth grade, I attended a fiddling seminar at a local music shop. Considering I started my musical career in sixth grade, that was really my first non-classical experience. A fellow classmate of mine and I learned fiddling licks by hearing and reproducing- a very different learning technique than what I had experienced.

I also played in a rock band the summer before my freshman year in college. Some jazz students from my arts high school were a year older than me and wanted to put a band together with a unique sound. Therefore, they added a violinist- me. We played everything from the Decemberists to The Who. Our name was the Weather and we recorded three original songs in a studio in December of 2007 (and we actually have a couple websites). It was a very different experience and I loved every minute of it.

Last year, I took the MUH 101 class and was exposed to Indian classical music. Since then, I have fallen in love and listen to it constantly. I find it incredibly soothing and complex. It's such a unique sound- tabla, sitar, raga, tala... I can't get enough! I attended an Indian classical concert at the Precollege Building on campus last semester and was amazed. Though the man giving the concert was a little uppity (as some great performers tend to be), his vast experience in Indian classical performance and high regard in his native country were evident in his amazing playing- I was enthralled.

I will be heading off to Africa for a month in January of 2010 to teach HIV/AIDS education in rural villages of Malawi, so I imagine that I will experience some wonderful African musical culture... I can't wait!