Mark O'Connor Draws Inspiration From America, His Own Past For Newest Pieces

'String Quartets No.'s 2 & 3' set for release May 26th via OMAC Records
 
Mark O'Connor continues his musical journey into the heart of America on his latest album, containing his String Quartets No.'s 2 & 3. Like all of O'Connor's work, each piece takes deep inspiration from the landscape and traditions of America to produce music that is both familiar and original. Masterfully played by O'Connor, Ida Kavafian, Paul Neubauer, and Matt Haimovitz, the album is slated for a May 26th release from OMAC Records. The release follows a major performance of the work at New York's Merkin Hall, with some of the classical world's brightest lights in attendance, including Josh Bell, Lara St. John, Angella Ahn and the Ahn Trio, and Grammy nominees Anastisia Khitruk, Philippe Quint, and Sara Sant'Ambrogio.

Quartet No. 2 reinterprets the bluegrass O'Connor played as a child into a hypnotic sonic cloud of repeating motifs and call-and-response pieces. Utilizing the same techniques he used to turn Johnny Cash's vocals and guitar hooks into his piano trio "Poets & Prophets", O'Connor breaks bluegrass into its component atoms and reassembles it into something recognizable but subtly altered. "I wanted to comprehensively dive down deep in to the strains of this music," O'Connor explains. "I wanted to further discover what this American musical form means to string playing, what it means to this quartet, and, ultimately, what my own past means to me today."

Quartet No.3, "Old Time", was written at the behest of New York's Hudson Commission to commemorate the 400th anniversary of European settlement in the Hudson Valley region. Like O'Connor's Americana Symphony, it is a sweeping, cinematic piece that conjures the optimism and adventure of a young America through its use of old-time fiddling techniques as a compositional jumping-off point. As O'Connor himself puts it, "Techniques such as re-harmonization, development, and canonic applications spill over each other like the Hudson tributaries in the Adirondacks. The result is a wholly participating body emphasizing transitions from the traditional to the contemporary in sound and style." 

About Mark O'Connor

Mark O'Connor is a Grammy-winning violinist and composer who is widely recognized as one of the most gifted contemporary composers in America and one of the brightest talents of his generation. He's studied and recorded with some of the 20th Century's greatest musicians, including Stephane Grappeli, Benny Thomasson, and Yo Yo Ma. 

Along the way, between these many marvelous musical extremes, Mark O'Connor absorbed knowledge and influence from the multitude of musical styles and genres he studied. Now, at age 47, he has melded and shaped these influences into a new American Classical music, and is perpetuating his vision of an American School of string playing. The Los Angeles Times warmly noted he has "crossed over so many boundaries, that his style is purely personal," while the New York Times calls his "one of the most spectacular journeys in recent American music."

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