Jackiw’s string broke during a climactic point in Shostakovich’s Piano Trio no.2, yet the violinist attempted to carry on in a valiant effort
When your E string breaks during a performance, the word ’welp’ comes to mind.
Such a situation arose for violinist Stefan Jackiw during a performance of Shostakovich Piano Trio no.2 with the Junction Trio at the 92nd St Y in New York on 1 November. While his bow remained intact this time, his E string wasn’t so lucky…
Not wanting to lose momentum during such a climactic point in the piece, Jackiw powered on, actively transposing on his three remaining strings.
It has been well documented where a soloist’s string breaks during performance - in such a situation, the soloist swaps instruments with the orchestra’s concertmaster, who passes the violin with the broken string down through the section. However, in this trio format, Jackiw eventually had no choice but to leave the stage.
Jackiw’s followers have given praise for dealing with the pressure: ‘You recovered beautifully,’ ‘Great save!’ and ’Shosti would be proud’ were some of the comments on display.
The performance marked the Junction Trio’s debut at the 92nd St Y, where it performed the world premiere of John Zorn’s Philosophical Investigations II, as well as Brahms Piano Trio in B major alongside the Shostakovich.
Read: Violinist Stefan Jackiw’s bow breaks mid-performance
Watch: Ray Chen: What do you do when your E-string breaks in a concert?
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