Musician’s Note: Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto

Happy Spring!

My earliest memory of the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto is from when I was four or five in San Diego. My parents are not musicians, but my mother especially loved classical music and they had a small but respectable collection of LPs. One of these was a two-record set of Heifetz playing the Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky and Brahms Violin Concertos. I used to know each LP by its record cover design and color, so this was the purple one with a color portrait of Heifetz looking elegant but stern. The cover is now quite beat up from all of the handling (and perhaps also from my cat who willfully mistook my record shelf for a scratching post), but the records inside are still scratch free. Even as a little kid, I knew that this music was wonderful, and treated the LPs with utmost care.

My other source of music was running to the house next door. Both musicians in the San Diego Symphony (they still are), Mr. Sasaki was the percussionist in the orchestra, and his garage was filled with all of his fascinating instruments. I was especially mesmerized by his amazing virtuosity at the xylophone. Mrs. Sasaki was a violinist in the orchestra, and I loved the few times she let me sit nearby while she practiced. These moments have left a deep impression on me.

Now, as a violinist in the Utah Symphony, I have the privilege of participating directly in the music making. Listening is wonderful, but being there inside the orchestra and contributing my best to the whole, is an incomparable feeling. Whenever I visit other orchestras, my fingers start to twitch and I just want to join right in. I become impatient to get back to the Utah Symphony where my chair awaits and we’re all ready to take the next musical adventure.

I hope you join us this month for more great musical moments. Mendelssohn Violin Concerto, Brahms Piano Concerto, Carmina Burana…. These are all monumental works not to be missed!

Yuki McQueen

Utah Symphony Violinist