From the Birth of the Violin to J.S. Bach and the Glory of Cremona
Wed, Dec 3, 2025, 6:30 pm
Daniel and Joanna S. Rose Studio at CMS
1 hour 30 minutes, no intermission
With antecedents shared by numerous cultures reaching back to humankind's earliest and most primitive music, the modern violin appeared in a sleepy Northern Italian town in the mid-sixteenth century, creating one of the great miracles of Western Art. In the opening lecture of our lecture series, The Magnificent Violin: Its Music, Composers, and Performers, violinist Aaron Boyd traces the violin’s history from its hazy origins to its apogee in the hands of Antonio Stradivari, Antonio Vivaldi, and J. S. Bach, examining the creative synergy between the instrument’s earliest performers and composers.
Aaron Boyd
Violinist Aaron Boyd enjoys a versatile career as soloist, chamber musician, orchestral leader, recording artist, lecturer, and teacher. Since making his New York recital debut in 1998, he has concertized throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. Formerly a member of the Escher String Quartet, he was a recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant and the Martin E. Segal prize from Lincoln Center, and was also awarded a Proclamation by the City of Pittsburgh for his musical accomplishments. A passionate advocate for new music, he has been involved in numerous commissions and premieres, and has worked directly with such legendary composers as Milton Babbitt, Elliott Carter, and Charles Wuorinen. He is also founder of the Zukofsky Quartet (quartet-in-residence at Bargemusic); the only ensemble to have played all of Milton Babbitt's notoriously difficult string quartets. As a recording artist, he can be heard on the BIS, Music@Menlo Live, Naxos, Tzadik, North/South and Innova labels. He has been broadcast in concert by NPR, WQXR, and WQED, and was profiled by Arizona Public Television. Born in Pittsburgh, Mr. Boyd began his studies with Samuel LaRocca and Eugene Phillips and graduated from The Juilliard School where he studied with Sally Thomas and coached extensively with Paul Zukofsky and cellist Harvey Shapiro. He now serves as Director of Chamber Music and Professor of Practice in Violin at the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University and lives in Dallas with his wife Yuko, daughter Ayu, and son Yuki.