FARMINGTON – Sarah Washburn, who grew up as a student violinist here, returns to Farmington now a master violinist performing with the West End String Quartet 7:30 p.m. on May 18 at Nordica Autitorium on the University of Maine at Farmington campus.
Washburn started playing when she was seven. Daughter of Jean Stewart and Hank Washburn, who taught her the basics with his fiddle and she went on to pursue lessons with Nancy Beacham of Farmington, a violinist and violist of Maine Music Society, the Maine State Ballet Orchestra and the Portland Symphony. She was also a student of Graybert Beacham’s of Farmington, who performs in Maine State Ballet Orchestra.
Sarah Washburn grew up in New Sharon and graduated from Mt. Blue High School, where she also played in the local school district’s string programs, including Steve Muise’s Franklin County Fiddlers in their infancy, along with the Mid Maine Youth Orchestra Program under coordinators Karen McCann and her husband Dennis Hayes. She also participated in local chamber music groups created and coached by Laurie and Jim Kennedy.
“There were a lot of people who appreciated her music and talent in Farmington,” Hank Washburn said.
Hank Washburn, a violinist with the Maine Fiddle camp and plays with the “The Usual Suspects” or “The Racket Factory.” These groups perform for contra dances, weddings, and other festivals, performing jigs, waltzes, polkas, and more. Washburn plays and teaches entirely by ear, he doesn’t read music or speak about notes or pitches.
Sarah Washburn earned her bachelors in music from Boston University and went on to get her masters in music at the University of Hartford.
She now plays with the West End String Quartet . She plays both chamber music and orchestral music although she prefers chamber music.
“She likes chamber music more because the performers get to make the decisions. There’s not a conductor, just the performers and the audience. This allows the musicians to play based on agreements between them, not at the behest of anyone else,” Hank Washburn said.
When she’s not performing, Sarah Washburn teaches other students how to play the violin. She teaches 30 students in her music studio in West Hartford, Conn. where she lives with her husband, Ryan Jesperson. She is also on the faculty of the Hartt School Community Division, a school devoted to music, dance, and theatre.
Although now living two states away, she hasn’t forgotten her roots.
“I’m lucky to have grown up in such a musically-rich community. I didn’t realize it until I was away at school. In fact, the concerts I now hear in New York and Boston are very much like the concerts I used to hear in Farmington, and was even able to perform in,” she said.
Her upcoming local performance is 7:30 p.m on May 18 at Nordica Autitorium on the UMF campus with the West End String Quartet. The West End String Quartet is composed of Jessica Meyer on violin, John Biatowas on viola, and Anne Berry on cello.
The concert will feature the Slavic-influenced works by Smetana, Martinu and Beethoven. Bedrich Smetana is said to be the “Father of Czech Music,” and his autobiographical Quartet No. 1, “From My Life” is considered one of his finest works. Bohuslav Martinu is another Czech composer (1890-1959) on the program. Martinu closely followed Smetana, but in his Serenade No. 2, he added the influence of his mentor Stravinsky and jazz composers of the early 1900s.
Ludwig Beethoven certainly needs no introduction, but his involvement with Slavic music may. His String Quartet No. 7 in F Major, Op. 59, No. 1, from the Middle Period, was sponsored by the Russian Count Razumovsky, and in this entire opus, Beethoven experimented with what Russian music could offer his evolving oeuvre.
Apparently one thing it could offer was difficulty for the performers. At the time, the cellist, complaining of the impossibility of synchronized runs, mismatched intonations, and fast passages threw his music to the ground. But Beethoven never wanted his performers and audience ever to become too comfortable. Although the Razumovsky Quartets are today among Beethoven’s most popular works, it’s worth reminding ourselves that the first reactions to this radical music was confusion. Beethoven replied, “These are not for you but for a later age.”
The concert is sponsored by the Arts Institute of Western Maine. Tickets at the door: adults $12 (under 18 and UMF students free).
How wonderful..and what an amazing testimony to the outstanding music teachers of all kinds that are part of our community. May we NEVER take them for granted!!