Living Vicariously Through Your Violin

"Let me live, love, and say it well in good sentences." Sylvia Plath

As a writer, I have an innate curiosity about all things from exotic locations to the inner workings of my fellow humans. Sometimes a desire for a time machine washes over me. The ability to temporarily visit past eras in person would be a dream come true.

When I watch a movie set beneath the mirrored brilliance of a disco ball in a 1970s nightclub, I ache to don my own sequined beret and boogie shoes to the tunes of Donna Summer. When I read about the likes of Hemingway and Fitzgerald writing works in a 1920s Parisian café, my own wandering soul longs to experience the moveable feast.

I pine for novel things to add to my personal repertoire of experiences. New stories to tell and skills to sample. Signing up for classes and workshops, I picture myself a photographer one day and a wine sommelier the next. I visit various houses of worship, visualizing the universe in an innovative way. Traveling as much as possible, I ponder what it would be like to live in the different lands I visit. I read books, watch films, and attend the theater, putting myself into the characters' lives - even if only for a moment. I gaze into people's houses and offices when I walk or drive by, imagining the lives of those inside.

"Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing." Benjamin Franklin

Dreamers dream and imagine worlds unlike their own. And we writers take our visualizations one step further - reliving them through our work.

"We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect." Anaïs Nin

The musicality of the violin often incites me to live vicariously. Whether it is my Irish and Scottish ancestry or just the all-out cool factor that the violin embraces today, I often fantasize about playing. I daydream about jumping on top of a dive bar somewhere in Nashville with fire flying from my fingertips. I pull my bow across the fiddle’s strings and astound the crowd with my rendition of The Devil Went to Georgia.

"How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live." Henry David Thoreau

In addition to using my imagination, I can live vicariously through those who possess the talent and determination to inspire my reveries.

Lindsey Stirling

One of those artists got her first violin (a cereal box with a paper towel roll for a neck) as a child. Later, as a teen, she competed in a pageant and, on a whim, decided to mix violin and dance to stand out from the crowd. Lindsey Stirling, an American violinist, songwriter, and dancer now presents choreographed violin performances in person and to her nearly twelve million YouTube subscribers. Her eclectic style merges Celtic, pop, rock, and classical music that resonates with her fans.

I have been lucky enough to see Lindsey perform twice in two completely different shows. The first time, in 2014, my husband and I had VIP tickets for the Shatter Me tour in St. Petersburg, Florida. We had a bird’s eye view of the concert crowd completely captivated by Lindsey’s performance.

Then, in 2017, we happily attended her Warmer in Winter tour in Washington D.C. with a holiday vibe that made her work even more enchanting. I went home with visions of sugar plum fairies dancing in my head that night, and I dreamt of being in the shoes of the quirky, fire-haired sprite spinning across the stage and sawing away on her electric fiddle.

Black Violin

My other inspiration, Black Violin, is a Florida-based group that I have followed for close to twenty years. A few days ago, I finally had the chance to attend a live performance with their Impossible is Possible tour at the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts in Vienna, Virginia.

Kev Marcus (Kevin Sylvester) plays the violin, while Wil B (Wilner Baptiste) plays the viola. The duo met while attending Dillard High School, a performing arts school, where they had the same music teacher.

After accompanying Alicia Keys at the 2004 Billboard Awards, Black Violin’s popularity began to rise. Now this classically trained, Grammy-nominated hip-hop duo have 193,000 subscribers on YouTube. Black Violin challenges and changes our perception of what music can sound like with their distinctive fusion of groove and strings.

My favorite piece – and possibly their most well-known – is Brandenburg, which quotes Bach’s concerto. But a more recent piece, Impossible is Possible, demonstrates Black Violin’s desire to educate and unite. In addition to its sweeping melodies and hip-hop beats, the lyrics are uplifting and inspiring with the goal to break apart stereotypes.

I went home from their concert with a t-shirt blazoned with words of affirmation, reminded of the importance of doing what I love and instilling these values into the children I work with.

Magic Giant

In 2017, I was fortunate enough to see this Los Angeles based indy-folk band in an intimate concert outside of Washington D.C. And believe it or not, it all happened inside a snow globe.

Magic Giant uses any instrument at their disposal from the customary guitar and bass to the more unique violin and cello. The group consists of Austin Bisnow (lead vocals), Zambricki Li (violin/viola) and Zang (guitar).

Since 2017, they now have over ten thousand followers on YouTube. Magic Giant's live performances are not to be missed, as they have a joyful, passionate, upbeat vibe that makes you want to drop your worries and dance along. As I tend to be a bit self-conscious, I was inspired by not just the violinist and other band members, but also by their ability to unapologetically embrace their unique sound and style.

Of course, there are more artists such as David Garrett (with close to 1.2 million subscribers) blending classical vibes with modernity using the violin. There are many chances to live vicariously and take away whatever you can from the experience - new dreams, lessons, ideas, or simply good vibes.

“Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” Pablo Picasso

Living momentarily in these artists' creative light ignites a spark that fuels my work and my self – mind, body, and soul.

Vincent Van Gogh once said, “I dream of painting and then I paint my dream.”

I dream of being someone else and somewhere else and then I write my dream.

"I write to discover what I know." Flannery O'Connor

Tomorrow I revisit Wolf Trap - this time to see another band called The Head and the Heart - where I intend to live vicariously through violinist Charity Rose Thielen and the other artists.

There, I'm certain, a new dream will take wings and inspire me to take pen to paper once again.

"You can make anything by writing." C.S. Lewis