Nigel Kennedy with “Bach Plus”: acoustic violin and the music of Bach and Fats Waller

Following concerts featuring the music of Jimi Hendrix, the folk-klezmer group Kroke and improvisations with leading Polish jazz musicians, Ethno Jazz Festival presents the classical side of British violin virtuoso Nigel Kennedy.

On 25 May, Wrocław’s White Stork Synagogue will host a concert in Kennedy’s worldwide BACH PLUS series. This is an entirely acoustic programme devised for venues with natural acoustics. Its first half consists exclusively of works by Johann Sebastian Bach, while the second features new arrangements of music by Fats Waller, the brilliant American jazz pianist and composer active in the first half of the 20th century. This was the repertoire that captivated the audience at a completely sold-out Proms concert in 2011. For this part of the concert, Nigel will be joined by outstanding jazz musicians: guitarist Rolf Bussalb, double bassist Yaron Stavi and drummer Krzysztof Dziedzic.

Alongside several pairs of custom-made 5-string electric violins, Nigel Kennedy plays an instrument made in 1732 by the outstanding Cremona luthier Carlo Bergonzi.

B A C H: NIGEL KENNEDY'S PERSONAL VIEW (excerpt) Performing J.S. Bach's solo works is a challenge I cannot refuse, one that focuses my efforts and offers an opportunity to motivate myself and give as much as possible.

The great George Enescu once reminded successive generations of violinists of Bach’s solo music. His pupil, Yehudi Menuhin, became its next champion, and I had the opportunity, as his protégé, to accompany him in many concerts introducing audiences to this great composer. All of this, together with my enduring love of Bach’s music, fills me with a sense of responsibility to perform it whenever and wherever possible. Experts relegate Bach to a remote, decaying ghetto, leading many people to believe that his music is purely mathematical and technical. My personal task, therefore, is to keep Bach’s music in the mainstream and present it with its emotional core intact. […]

I would like to pay tribute and express my thanks to Yehudi Menuhin and Peter Norris, whose contribution to my preparation for performing the works in tonight’s concert remains invaluable.

Nigel Kennedy

Nigel Kennedy has been recognised for more than twenty-five years as one of the world's finest violin virtuosos. His extraordinary talent and charisma have brought a fresh perspective to classical and contemporary repertoire and made his recordings the bestselling classical music albums of all time.

From his earliest years, Yehudi Menuhin’s most famous protégé studied at the Menuhin School. After the master’s death, it emerged that the legendary violinist personally funded Kennedy’s entire education. He then studied with renowned Dorothy DeLay at New York’s Juilliard School of Music. Throughout his career, Kennedy has undertaken countless international tours with leading orchestras and conductors across Europe, North, Central and South America, Asia and Australia.

Nigel Kennedy attracts international media attention in an extraordinary way and has numerous varied television appearances to his name. He has also performed repeatedly for British royal family members, both publicly and privately. His many honours include Artist of the Year, a UK Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music, a Gold Award from France’s Vivement Dimanche television network, several Echo awards, American Grammys, Germany’s Bambi and Switzerland’s Golden Rose of Montreux.

Kennedy has an impressive, award-laden discography. His first widely acclaimed recording was E. Elgar’s Violin Concerto, selling 300,000 copies. His groundbreaking recording of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons entered Guinness World Records as the best-selling classical recording of all time. It sold over 2 million copies and topped Britain’s classical charts for almost two years.

His second album of Vivaldi's music, recorded with the Berlin Philharmonic, won Germany's prestigious Echo Klassik award for the best performance of an 18th-century work, as well as Austria's highest distinction for a classical music performance, the Amadeus Award. His other bestsellers include recordings of concertos by Bach, Beethoven, Berg, Brahms, Bruch, Mendelssohn, Sibelius, Tchaikovsky and Walton, alongside chamber music and recital recordings.

The violinist’s passion for jazz resulted in Blue Note Sessions, recorded with jazz giants Ron Carter and Jack DeJohnette under the watchful eye of producer Jay Newland.

▶