Stonington native Hilary Castle returns to La Grua Center for a sold-out concert on Saturday, July 9. We sat down with her and talked about musical inspirations and what it’s like to perform at La Grua Center. Here is an excerpt from that conversation:
What first got you all into music?
My earliest musical memory is lying beneath my dad’s grand piano in our living room. I vividly remember feeling the immense sounds vibrating through the floor boards and was awe-struck. After a family vacation and a turn at the steel drums at the resort, I asked about the violin. Shortly after I began playing, I attended a summer music institute and found a miniature stuffed koala bear in the gift shop that I could put on my bow while I played. It’s been love ever since!
Who/What inspired you to make music?
My dad “placed the song in my heart” at an early age. He played the piano for hours and hours each day. I remember falling asleep to classical music every night as a child. Music was my companion. I remember hearing the last movement of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto and finally getting a copy of my own on tape. The final page of the concerto stirred something within me that I have never been able to shake. Now I’m teaching the Concerto to my own violin students and approach it with the same wonder and amazement as I did as a 10 year old tucked cozily in bed.
What is the best advice (musical or other) you’ve been given?
I struggled with performance anxiety for so much of my career. Finally in graduate school, Laurie Smukler helped build some perspective: what will actually happen if I don’t play perfectly? I’ll have my health, the floor boards won’t open and swallow me up, and the world will still go on spinning. It might sound silly, but this has really stuck with me. Another bit of advice on the same topic: you can be nervous and successful at the same time!
On Saturday July 9, you’ve planned a trio of piano trios (Haydn, Higdon, Beethoven). Take me through your thought process on these pieces. Is there anything the audience should expect for this set of three?
Whenever we put together a program, I always consider Beethoven. I just can’t not. Pairing Beethoven’s great trio with Haydn and Higdon feels somewhat fresh and unexpected. There’s an emotionality to the Haydn that seems to foreshadow and “hint at” what is to come in the Beethoven trio. Jennifer Higdon’s trio is contrasting in its poised lyricism, broad phrases and parallel tonalities. I like to think of Jennifer’s trio is a kind of glue that helps meld the Haydn and Beethoven together, blending them harmoniously with one another.
You’ve performed all over – Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Symphony Hall, Sydney Opera House, Rudofinum, and on Broadway (just to name a few places). What makes coming “home” to La Grua Center special?
There is no warmer audience than the audiences at the La Grua Center! Perhaps this is because we’re all friends and share a musical history with one another. The community at La Grua has been constant but evolving for so many years. When I return to the La Grua Center, I feel as though I am returning to an old friend’s living room (but with incredible acoustics and seating for many!) What I especially love about performing at La Grua is that there is no “stage”. The floor is level for the audience and the musicians and the musical experience is shared by all. Instead of playing “for” the audience, I feel as though we are playing “with” the audience. I love when the front row is as close as possible. That is – without the risk of a bow interruption!
If you could open a show for any artist, who would it be?
I’d love to open for (or play with…) Janine Jansen. I’ve also been listening to James Ehnes’ Bach Partitas and Sonatas on repeat as well. Let’s have a violin extravaganza at La Grua Center!
Since moving to Boulder, CO this past winter, my husband and I have been listening to so much bluegrass. We love Aoife O’Donovan & Stuart Duncan, and our latest obsession is Andrew Marlin and Christian Sedelmeyer. So, if they would accept a classical violinist as their opening act, I’m there!
After your performance at La Grua Center, what’s next for you?
We’re headed to Montauk the next day (7/10) to perform a similar program in Miloš Repicky’s series “Music for Montauk”! I can’t wait to take the ferry with my buddies and play incredible trios near the sea once again!
Once we’re back in Colorado in August, I’ll look forward to seeing my NYC students once again on Zoom and plan to begin playing with a couple of orchestras and chamber ensembles and perhaps start to teach in-person once again. I also plan to visit a few local schools and present a “Meet the Violin” series for youngsters. Perhaps this will blossom into a bigger series for children that will include both classical and bluegrass. Stay tuned…
I can’t wait to join Ani and Miloš once again this winter in concert and perhaps once again next summer! Now if I could just teleport them to the Rockies…
Hilary Castle Green
Violinist & Teacher
www.hilarycastle.com
