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| Terri Croft will perform with Nova Sinfonia on Tuesday evening. (Bruce Bottomley Photo) |
Ever since Terri Croft started to learn the violin, her fiddling has taken second fiddle.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 do a lot of fiddling anymore,鈥� says Ms. Croft, a fourth-year music student who studies violin with Prof. Phillippe Djokic. 鈥淐lassical music is what I鈥檓 passionate about.鈥�
On Tuesday, she puts her passion on display, performing as the guest soloist with Nova Sinfonia at St. Matthew鈥檚 United Church. Martin MacDonald will conduct.
She鈥檒l play Brahm鈥檚 Violin Concerto, considered one of the most difficult pieces in violin repertoire.
鈥淚t鈥檚 an old favorite of mine,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 incredibly difficult. It requires more thought than anything I鈥檝e ever done before.鈥�
The piece is 45 minutes in length and rather demanding on the soloist, requiring rapid scale passages and rhythmic variations. Brahms wrote it for his violinist friend Joseph Joachim. 鈥淭here鈥檚 everything in it from turbulence to triumph,鈥� enthuses Ms. Croft, 22, reached in the midst of a recent rehearsal. 鈥淵ou鈥檝e got to hear it.鈥�
From Riverview, N.B., Ms. Croft was four years old when she first started studying music. She began old-time fiddle lessons in 1996, and took up classical violin a year later.
She鈥檚 incredibly gifted at the fiddle, winning her first national title at the age of 10 and two more in subsequent years.
But in her mid-teens, her focus shifted to classical violin. She is now a six-time New Brunswick provincial champion.
Whether fiddling or playing the violin, it鈥檚 the same instrument. On loan to her, Ms. Croft鈥檚 instrument is a 鈥渃ouple of hundred years old鈥� with a dark, rich tone. The difference is in the approach to the music.聽Fiddling is more instinctive --聽鈥測ou've got to get your groove on,鈥� she says -- while聽violin is more technically challenging and聽more intellectual. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e thinking on a deeper level ... it鈥檚 what you can make of the lines and phrases.鈥�
She鈥檚 grateful for her experience at AV俱乐部 and to work so closely with a musician as distinguished as Prof. Djokic. She鈥檚 now applying for graduate schools in London, England.
Whether fiddling or playing violin, she鈥檚 a natural in the spotlight. 鈥淚 find it very rewarding, and very humbling to have people listen and like what you do,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a wonderful experience and one I couldn鈥檛 do without.鈥�
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