Download Violinist goes solo for performance with Signature Symphony

Violinist goes solo for performance
with Signature Symphony
By JAMES D. WATTS JR. World Scene Writer
1/31/2007
Having to perform two very different roles in a
single evening might sound like a recipe for undue
stress.
COURTESY
But for violinist Maureen O'Boyle, it's the best way
for her to remain calm.
Concertmaster Maureen O’Boyle will also
perform as a soloist on Thursday.
O'Boyle is the concertmaster for the Signature
Symphony at Tulsa Community College. For its concert this Thursday evening at the
VanTrease Performing Arts Center for Education, she will take center stage as the
soloist for the Violin Concerto, Op. 14, by Samuel Barber.
Normally, when a member of the orchestra plays a concerto, that is all he or she plays
during the concert. O'Boyle, however, will be in her regular seat when the orchestra
plays another work on the program, the Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92. (The
evening also will include the world premiere of Oklahoma composer Brant Adams'
"Heartland Trilogy.")
"The Beethoven Seventh is one of my favorites, and I didn't want to be sitting backstage
while everyone else got to play this piece I love," O'Boyle said. "Besides, I would be in
my more familiar role as concertmaster and, to be honest, that's maybe the best way to
keep me from getting too nervous about playing the concerto. I'll have more than one
thing to concentrate on."
But then, O'Boyle has never concentrated on a single aspect of the violin. She was
associate concertmaster of the Tulsa Philharmonic from 1993 to 2001, and serves as
concertmaster for the Tulsa Opera Orchestra as well as the Signature Symphony, which
she joined in 2005.
She is also the violinist for Trio Tulsa, the chamber music ensemble in residence at the
University of Tulsa, where she is an instructor in violin. Trio Tulsa will perform in May to
close out Chamber Music Tulsa's 2006-07 season.
In fact, the one role she's least familiar with is that of soloist.
"This will be my first soloist gig in quite a long time," O'Boyle said. "It's also been a while
since I've played the Barber concerto -- I played it as a student, and I don't remember
that last movement being so hard."
Barber was commissioned to write this concerto in 1939 by the father of a fellow student
at the Curtis Institute of Music. Barber wrote the first two movements, but the person for
whom it was written thought the music wasn't challenging enough.
Barber then wrote the final movement -- marked "Presto in moto," or perpetual motion -and was told not only was it too difficult to play, but it didn't fit with the first two
movements.
Another violinist ultimately gave the premiere of the concerto, and it has been a staple
of the concert repertoire ever since.
"The second movement of this concerto has always been something I've enjoyed
listening to," O'Boyle said. "It's so pensive and melancholy. In fact, the first two
movements are very thoughtful and introspective -- and then comes the third
movement, which is like, 'OK, enough of this serious stuff, let's have some fun.' "
O'Boyle's presence as concertmaster has also been an asset to the Signature
Symphony. The role of concertmaster in an orchestra involves more than sitting in the
first seat among the violins and playing most of the flashy parts.
Concertmasters are, in some respects, responsible for the quality of an orchestra's
sound. They work out the bowings for the violin section and work with the conductor to
create a single, cohesive sound out of a few dozen individual players.
"It's not just getting everyone's bows moving in the same direction at the same time,"
she said. "It's a matter of getting to know people, and being able to work with them -not just the violins, but all the strings -- to make the orchestra more cohesive, to be
creating a sound together.
"When I think of the first concert I played with the Signature Symphony, then think about
our last concert, where we did the Shostakovich Fifth (symphony) . . . well, it's not the
same orchestra," O'Boyle said. "We've really improved, and it's been a joy to hear that,
and to know I've been a small part of it."
By JAMES D. WATTS JR. World Scene Writer