An Interview with Violinist and Curator Alexi Kenney

Vividness, Drama, and Bach
An Interview with Violinist and Curator Alexi Kenney

By Erica Reid on behalf of the Wichita Symphony

WSO Connect’s second landmark event takes place on October 4, and you won’t want to miss it. Alexi Kenney: Shifting Ground, blends contemporary musical performance with dazzling projected visuals. Recently we asked Kenney a few questions about what audiences could expect from this groundbreaking concert experience.

WSO: Shifting Ground has been touring for 2 years; how has this show evolved in that time?

KENNEY: Shifting Ground was borne out of an idea I had to contextualize Bach’s monumental Chaconne. I've always had trouble getting myself and the audience in the right headspace to receive the Chaconne when I'd program it alone on a program. I began thinking of pieces that could elide with it, whet the palate, and provide a way for us to be in the right energetic space to hear it, then created several 'sets' of uninterrupted pieces, each including movements of Bach and interweaving in new commissions, older pieces, and pieces with electronics.

I began thinking of adding visual artist collaborators into the mix, and had the great joy of building out a version with epic lighting design by Jane Cox. That sparked my interest in collaborating with Xuan, who has brought a deeper layer of visual narrative to the show. Xuan's extraordinary work is all expressed in a video medium which shows different states of matter. You'll see close-ups of broken glass, crystallized ice, ink suspended in water. Xuan's film complements and expands upon the loneliness that is inherent in a solo violin recital, and makes us ponder how we cope with loss and attempt to heal from it.

WSO: How did you first encounter the work of Xuan, and what is the nature of your collaboration

KENNEY: I'd heard of Xuan for years from several friends who'd recommended I look into her work. Our collaboration was all made possible by an opportunity from the Baryshnikov Arts Center in New York, which commissioned Xuan's art for this project. We had a great few days building out the program there, discussing aesthetics, lighting, staging, and then took it to the Ojai Festival last summer. I'm so excited that we have another chance to share this program in Wichita!

WSO: Shifting Ground uses the music of J.S. Bach as its foundation; what do you feel musicians and audiences can continue to learn from Bach's work?

KENNEY: Bach's music is definitely foundational for Shifting Ground, but I try to get away from the idea of calling it a Bach recital. What I'm more interested in is how Bach's music interacts with seemingly disparate music written in the present day. To me, Bach doesn't feel ancient. There's a vividness, a sense of drama, and textural and harmonic exploration that feels very modern.

It's also fascinating to place all these works by Bach next to works by others, which illustrates just how influential Bach's writing for solo violin has been. I even notice that I play Bach differently when it's surrounded by the music I've programmed in Shifting Ground. In a way, listening to the Chaconne after hearing all that came before it in this program makes you hear bits and pieces of everything I played within it. I love that interplay and the blurring of boundaries that this program offers.

WSO: Shifting Ground is part of our series WSO Connect, which reimagines the traditional concert experience. What is one way that Shifting Ground does this?

KENNEY: It's important to me to continue to experiment with the concert setting—I love and am inspired by other performing arts, and have noticed how dance and theater are continually experimenting with the relationship between artist and audience, while classical music (more often than not) rests on the same type of concert experience. I think it's important for all artists to really think about what we are offering beyond just our playing, and even if we don't have a strong visual component to our shows, how we would like our audience to feel, and how we can best bring everyone into a space of intentional listening and focus.

For tickets and details about upcoming WSO Connect events, visit: https://wichitasymphony.org/events/wso-connect