Review: Alexi Kenney masterclass

‘Can that be like the most shockingly gorgeous thing ever?’ said violinist Alexi Kenney about a passage in Schumann’s Sonata no.1 for violin and piano. Kenney was encouraging June Chung – a Boston-based violinist – to be more spontaneous, during this invigorating masterclass at the Bowdoin Festival. With grace, lively language and a bit of humour, Kenney demonstrated that he is not only a superb musician, but an eloquent observer and teacher too.

Subsequent musicians fell similarly under Kenney’s spell. To violinist Ryan Tully, working on Stravinsky’s Violin Concerto, Kenney urged him to find unique, unexpected characters: ‘I think you can just go crazy.’ Acknowledging that it is one of the most difficult works in the repertoire, he characterised its odd orchestration as ‘sneaky and unusual’. And though Tully – who won multiple prizes when he was scarcely 13 years old – seemed unfazed by its challenges, he took Kenney’s advice to heart, defining the colours more precisely and making them pop.

The penultimate violinist was Seo Yon Park, studying at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. Diving into the Poulenc Sonata, she found the measure of the composer’s wit and athleticism. And to close came violinist Claire Arias-Kim in Saint-Saëns’s First Violin Sonata. Both musicians, already excellent, benefited from Kenney’s subtle tips.

In keeping with his previous tone and comments, Kenney remained positive and optimistic, sometimes tossing out remarks from unexpected corners. Talking to Tully about Stravinsky’s actual orchestration, he encouraged the young violinist to find dialogue with other instruments, matter-of-factly asking: ‘How can you inspire the contrabassoon?’

BRUCE HODGES