Me
MEDITERRANEAN
ballads for violin and piano that are
very rarely played"
Also on Drucker's program will be
newer works by Andrew Norman and
Augusta Read Thomas.
"I'm being given the opportunity
to play a piece of my own ['But Then
Begins a Journey in My Head'], a
suite for violin and piano, and I'm
grateful for that" Drucker says. "It rep-
resents my interest in Shakespeare.
"Even though there's no voice in it,
I've included program notes and text
on which these movements are based.
They're transcriptions of music I wrote
for a voice and string quartet based on
Shakepeare's sonnets.
"I hope the audience will have the
opportunity to look at the text while
listening to me play. I [would like]
the music to stand on its own, but
there will be a narrative to the piece if
people can keep in mind my source of
inspiration."
Drucker's literary connections also
come through his novel, The Savior,
which will be discussed as part of
a performance. The novel follows
a German violinist exempted from
military service to entertain wounded
soldiers. When the musician is sent
to play for labor camp prisoners, he
examines his own alienation from Jews
and his attitudes toward the atrocities.
"A lot of the events are experienced
through [the main character's] rela-
tionship to music:' Drucker says. "The
main piece is Bach's Chaconne, and
I have often given readings where I
would play ... that great piece, which
has strong emotional impact"
Drucker's violin interests developed
in childhood and followed the career
of his father, Ernest, who immigrated
to the United States in 1938. Ernest
Drucker played with the Busch Quartet
and later joined the Metropolitan
FESTIVAL NOTES
Eugene Drucker launches a
lecture/performance series,
"Beyond the Notes," as he
debuts with the Great Lakes
Chamber Music Festival, in its
22nd year.
The festival runs June 13-28
at various local venues, including
Temple Beth El, which has
sponsored the annual event since
its start with St. Hugo of the
Hills Catholic Church and Kirk in
the Hills Presbyterian Church in
association with Detroit Chamber
Winds & Strings.
The secular presentation
Opera Orchestra.
"I went to Columbia University at
the same time I was going to Juilliard,"
says the traveling violinist, who has
appeared for the Chamber Music
Society of Detroit and the University
Musical Society in Ann Arbor. "I was
an English and comparative literature
major at Columbia.
"During my last two years at
Juilliard, I was increasingly less active
at Columbia and began to [perform] in
New York. I met Philip Setzer, and we
formed a student quartet that evolved
into the Emerson Quartet. The Quartet
recently released Journeys, its second
CD on Sony Classical featuring music
by Tchaikovsky and Schoenberg"
Drucker explains that he always
took some student-like interest in
composing and wrote a few pieces
during those times. He came back to
composing 10 years ago.
"I have enjoyed my musical encoun-
ters with Shakespeare because I found
inspiration in his verse the violinist
says.
Drucker, whose performances have
taken him to concert halls across
America and into other countries, also
performs with the Walsh-Drucker-
Cooper Trio, which includes his wife,
cellist Roberta Cooper. Their son,
Julian, a singer-songwriter who just
completed his third year at Yale, hopes
to compose theater music.
Looking forward to Michigan
appearances, Drucker tells of more
local string attachments.
"I have a cousin, Daniel Drucker, a
Wayne State University math profes-
sor who lives in Southfield" Drucker
says. "In the 1990s, I came to play as
a soloist with a symphony my cousin
belonged to. He's an enthusiastic ama-
teur violinist:'
V Vow
1:9p07/
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brings back pianist and festival
founding artistic director James
Tocco. Pianists new to the
festival include Alessio Bax and
Ran Dank. Debuting violinists
include Jaime Laredo, Sharon
Robinson and Stephanie Gonley.
There will be two world
premieres composed by the
consortium Sleeping Giant and
performed by eighth blackbird.
Mark Grey composed a new
festival-commissioned piece.
For a full list of performers
and programs, along
with ticket prices, visit
greatlakeschambermusic.org or
call (248) 559-2097.
GRILLE
4
May 20 - June 74, 2015
Directed by Christopher Bremer
There's nothing like a death in the family to bring out the worst in people as displayed with
delectably savage humor in Bad Jews. JET proudly presents the Michigan premier of this
Pulitzer Prize finalist play by Joshua Harmon - a dark comedy about family, faith, and
legacy and filled with hope, inspiration, wit and laughter. Imagine the audience crammed
into a shoebox with a couple of hungry hamsters fighting over a single food pellet!
"THE BEST COMEDY OF THE SEASON." -THE NEW YORK TIMES
I
TICKET5 246 188.29 0 WIN JETTHEATRE ORO
JET performs in the Aaron DeRoy Theatre in the Jewish Community Center
on the corner of Maple and Drake Roads in West Bloomfield
JN
June 4 • 2015
2010660
37