Capital Strings

By:

Rob Hayes

May 14, 2010
The Berklee World Strings, in the the John F. Kennedy Center of the Performing Arts' Terrace Theater
Julgi Kang and Rika Ikeda tear into de Sarasate's "Ziegeunerweisen."
From left, the BWS's Christopher Dalton, Alex Galle-From, Eden Raiz, and Malcolm Parson
Jacob Jolliff brings his mandolin's eight strings to bear on Eugene Friesen's composition, "Maracaibo."
From left: Maureen Choi, Navid Hejazi, Maria Kowalski, Trent Freeman, Pamela Cumming, Christopher Dalton, Duncan Wickel, and Alex Galle-From play on the traditional Appalachian tune, "Cluck Old Hen."
Jakub Trasak streams on, over, and through Gershwin's "I Got Rhythm," the piece he played at his Berklee scholarship audition, several years back, in Paris.
Photo by Madeline Marshall
Photo by Madeline Marshall
Photo by Madeline Marshall
Photo by Madeline Marshall
Photo by Madeline Marshall
Photo by Madeline Marshall

Berklee's brand new, grooving, improvising string orchestra, the Berklee World Strings, made their Kennedy Center debut on the night of Wednesday, May 12. The show was part of the Conservatory Project, the Kennedy Center's effort to showcase the best of America's music colleges and conservatories. 

A wildy appreciative crowd in the Terrace Theater heard director Eugene Friesen lead the 17-member BWS through pieces by Shostakovich; "Night Rider," from Eddie Sauter's orchestral vehicle for Stan Getz, Focus; two Scottish reels; Gershwin's "I Got Rhythm"; and a traditional Applachian fiddle tune, "Cluck Old Hen"; among others.

The show was webcast worldwide, and can be seen and heard on demand—in excellent fidelity—on the Kennedy Center website.