John McDowell and Emmanuel Vukovich. Photo by Janet Maya.
“Music for Farms” is an international initiative which works to revive and sustain local organic agriculture and farming communities through the arts. During concerts this fall in New York and Canada, the duo of John McDowell and Emmanuel Vukovich will weave an evening of music inspired by an exploration of connecting opposites – such as in their original work based on Wolfram von Eschenbach’s Parcifal legend, the meeting of Eastern and Western classical music in their own transcription of Ravi Shankar and Yehudi Menuhin’s Swara Kakali, in their personal backgrounds of jazz and classical music, and finally in their own lives of practicing music and farming side by side.
At these performances, the duo will also share some of their experience as farmers and present an excerpt from a film about music and farming entitled Bach in a Barn.
Violinist Vukovich states “Originally, music, dance, and artistic culture in general were strongly inter-connected to, and a part of, our human civilization’s relationship to nature. This was expressed in traditional agrarian society through rituals in rhythm with the seasons – such as harvest festivals. As people have migrated more and more to large urban centres, artistic cultural life has tended to separate from agricultural life. We go to concerts in the city, and we get our food from farms in the country. This has often created a void and famine of culture and arts in rural farming communities, and a corresponding disconnect/abstraction in the arts.” To this end, the proceeds from this event will go towards the creation of a foundation which works to connect world-class music-making and artistic culture with local sustainable agriculture and farming communities.
Canadian-born violinist and composer Emmanuel Vukovich has performed across Europe, the United States, Australia, and Canada. Born in 1980, he received the Golden Violin Award from McGill University’s Schulich School of Music and the Canada Council for the Arts Orford String Quartet Scholarship.
Emmanuel left home at sixteen to study with Dorthy Delay and Masao Kawasaki at the Juilliard School in New York City. Between 2003 and 2007 he completed his music studies at McGill University in Montreal working with Denise Lupien and André Roy at the Schulich School of Music, while also completing a minor in Environmental Studies. During this time, he was a member of the Lloyd Carr-Harris String Quartet, which won several national and international awards, including the Grand Prize at the Fischoff International Chamber Music Competition in 2005.
Emmanuel has performed with Ida Handel, Anton Kuerti, and Matt Haimowitz, and has been featured as soloist with the I Medici and McGill Symphony Orchestras. He has performed at the Aspen Music Festival, Orford Arts Centre Festival, Banff Center, and the Montreal Chamber Music Festival. During his early years in New York Emmanuel developed a serious interest in farming and served as co-director and concertmaster of Symphony in the Barn—an international summer music festival held on an operating bio-dynamic farm in Durham, Ontario. He has since become devoted to uniting his twin passions of music and agriculture, and recently organized and performed a series of solo violin recitals on organic farms entitled “Bach in a Barn.” In 2008 he began “Agri-Culture”—a project involving organizing, performing, and documenting a series of benefit concerts on Community Supported Agriculture farms across Canada and the United States. His aim with this project is to create a foundation that connects world-class music-making and culture with local organic agriculture.
Music for Farms
John McDowell and Emmanuel Vukovich. Photo by Janet Maya.
“Music for Farms” is an international initiative which works to revive and sustain local organic agriculture and farming communities through the arts. During concerts this fall in New York and Canada, the duo of John McDowell and Emmanuel Vukovich will weave an evening of music inspired by an exploration of connecting opposites – such as in their original work based on Wolfram von Eschenbach’s Parcifal legend, the meeting of Eastern and Western classical music in their own transcription of Ravi Shankar and Yehudi Menuhin’s Swara Kakali, in their personal backgrounds of jazz and classical music, and finally in their own lives of practicing music and farming side by side.
At these performances, the duo will also share some of their experience as farmers and present an excerpt from a film about music and farming entitled Bach in a Barn.
Excerpt from Bach in a Barn from Peter McDowell on Vimeo.
Violinist Vukovich states “Originally, music, dance, and artistic culture in general were strongly inter-connected to, and a part of, our human civilization’s relationship to nature. This was expressed in traditional agrarian society through rituals in rhythm with the seasons – such as harvest festivals. As people have migrated more and more to large urban centres, artistic cultural life has tended to separate from agricultural life. We go to concerts in the city, and we get our food from farms in the country. This has often created a void and famine of culture and arts in rural farming communities, and a corresponding disconnect/abstraction in the arts.” To this end, the proceeds from this event will go towards the creation of a foundation which works to connect world-class music-making and artistic culture with local sustainable agriculture and farming communities.
Past Music for Farms performances:
September 11, Brooklyn, NY
September 13, Chestnut Ridge, NY
September 18, Toronto, ON, Canada
September 20, Angus, ON, Canada
MORE ABOUT EMMANUEL VUKOVICH…
Canadian-born violinist and composer Emmanuel Vukovich has performed across Europe, the United States, Australia, and Canada. Born in 1980, he received the Golden Violin Award from McGill University’s Schulich School of Music and the Canada Council for the Arts Orford String Quartet Scholarship.
Emmanuel left home at sixteen to study with Dorthy Delay and Masao Kawasaki at the Juilliard School in New York City. Between 2003 and 2007 he completed his music studies at McGill University in Montreal working with Denise Lupien and André Roy at the Schulich School of Music, while also completing a minor in Environmental Studies. During this time, he was a member of the Lloyd Carr-Harris String Quartet, which won several national and international awards, including the Grand Prize at the Fischoff International Chamber Music Competition in 2005.
Emmanuel has performed with Ida Handel, Anton Kuerti, and Matt Haimowitz, and has been featured as soloist with the I Medici and McGill Symphony Orchestras. He has performed at the Aspen Music Festival, Orford Arts Centre Festival, Banff Center, and the Montreal Chamber Music Festival. During his early years in New York Emmanuel developed a serious interest in farming and served as co-director and concertmaster of Symphony in the Barn—an international summer music festival held on an operating bio-dynamic farm in Durham, Ontario. He has since become devoted to uniting his twin passions of music and agriculture, and recently organized and performed a series of solo violin recitals on organic farms entitled “Bach in a Barn.” In 2008 he began “Agri-Culture”—a project involving organizing, performing, and documenting a series of benefit concerts on Community Supported Agriculture farms across Canada and the United States. His aim with this project is to create a foundation that connects world-class music-making and culture with local organic agriculture.