The Live Music Project, an audience-friendly, conductor-less ensemble in residency at Fairfield University's Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts, considers an age-old musical connection in "The Devil and the Violin" on Friday, Oct. 7, at 8 p.m. at the Quick Center. The concert is the first of four, including a family event, that the ensemble will play this season.

For hundreds of years, the connection between the devil and the violin has spawned both music and folklore forever linking the two. Many stories have re-told the "crossroads legend," in which a violinist meets the devil along the roadside and sells his soul in exchange for peerless musical ability.

"It runs in American folklore quite a bit, selling your soul for something – for immortality, for happiness, for riches," said New Haven resident Netta Hadari, a violinist and co-founder and music director of the Live Music Project.

The concert includes one of the most famous takes on the legend, "The Soldier's Tale," in which a violinist sells his soul for wealth and finds out there are dire consequences down the line. The ensemble will present a full chamber ensemble version of Stravinsky's "The Soldier's Tale" during the concert.

Hadari will take on several caprices by the violinist/composer Paganini, who played so well some suspected he had sold his soul to the devil. The concert also features Tartini's "Devil's Trill Sonata," which the composer said was inspired by music the Prince of Darkness played for him in a dream.

The ensemble will mix words and music in a telling of the spooky H.P. Lovecraft story, "The Music of Erich Zann," about an unhinged man playing a violin. Josiah Rowe of Chesire will read the story over original music by co-founder and Artistic Director Daniel Smith of New Haven.

Founded by Hadari and Smith in conjunction with the Quick Center, The Live Music Project aims to change the way audiences think about chamber music. Now in its third season, the group includes some of the region's top musicians, offering exciting concerts in a friendly environment with an emphasis on interaction with the audience. The ensemble tackles both classical and contemporary works of all kinds, sometimes featuring world premieres of compositions by Smith, who also provides music for and directs many of the Quick Center's popular live radio dramas.

The October program is the Live Music Project's first concert of the 2005-06 season. Next up is "Music for Shakespeare," which will take place on Friday, Nov. 11.  The ensemble will play beloved American classics from Copland's "Appalachian Spring" to the music of Hitchcock's film "Psycho" on Friday, April 28. Though children are always welcome at Live Music Project concerts, the group will focus on family fare in "Myth and Music," an afternoon of storytelling and music, on Sunday, Jan. 22.

Tickets are $25 and subscriptions are available for all three evening concerts. "Myth and Music" tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for children. For tickets, call the Quick Center box office at (203) 254-4010 or toll free at 1-877-ARTS-396. For more information, visit the website, www.quickcenter.com.

Posted On: 09-12-2005 10:09 AM

Volume: 38 Number: 31