University Place

And welcome to The Midday. I'm Norman Gilliland once again in our Buck Studio with a performer. My guest today is Alex Zhu. Thank you for having me. - Welcome to The Midday. Pleasure to have you. And you have won various distinguished competitions already at the ripe old age of about 16. Most recently the Racine Symphony Orchestra Young Artist Competition. And what did you play for that occasion? I played Sarasate's "Zigeunerweisen" Oh, great, we'll get to hear that today, too, right? Mm-hmm. - That's becoming one of your trademark pieces, and no pushover either. And so we'll get to that a little bit later. But your musical background first. Oh, I started playing piano, actually, at the age of three. Mm-hmm, of course. Yeah. (they laugh) But then, actually, when I was seven I switched over to violin, and I started playing with the String Academy of Wisconsin, which is down at UW Milwaukee. And then after a few years, we switched over to Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra or MYSO. And I'm currently playing with Dr. Sascha Mandl who lives in Wauwatosa. I've been playing with him for five years now. And so was it just assumed in your family that you were going to be a performer, a musician of some kind? Um, kind of a musician. They told me to pursue my musical, I guess kind of a career, yeah. At the age of three? Not the age of three, of course, no, no. It was just kind of a hobby in a way. But, actually, I switched over to violin because when I was seven my brother was actually playing "Gavotte Mignon," Suzuki Book Two. And I was hearing it, I kept on hearing it. And I'm like, I want to beat him. I want to do it better than he does. Oh, really? So it was a sibling rivalry thing got you into it? - It's all brothers do, yep. So I was like I'm going to switch to violin. So then I switched over and here I am. So at that point, you were what, all of like, six at that time? Turning seven. Okay, much older. - Around there. (laughs) More mature. And you were playing what, like a quarter-sized violin at that point? I think I actually played an eighth size. An eighth. - Eighth-size, yeah. Okay, maybe you can answer this question. I've been curious about this, but not long enough to actually get a definitive answer. On an eighth size violin, how do they get the pitch to match that of other instruments? Well, since the eighth size is kind of like round there. This big. Yeah, like six inches for the whole thing. Yeah, so they have to make special strings just like they make it for full sizes and for three-quarters. So they make it smaller. I think they make the tension of the string a little different, and they wind it a little bit differently so that you can match all the pitches with what you're playing. And I think that's all I really know about that. That's enough for now. Gets me started. So at the age of six or so, how much practicing did you do, and how much practicing did you want to do? Well, of course, I didn't really want to practice. I mean, yeah, but I practiced about half an hour a day at most. That's not bad for six. - Yeah. What sort of things were you playing then? We got these little Faber books, they're I think Faber, and I was on like Book 3A. I was just playing. I think it was something with Jericho, like the Walls of Jericho. I was playing it. Oh! That sounds dynamic. Everything falls down at the end. Yep. It's just forte pretty much. Oh, really? - Yeah. Well, the violin, you know, you have the advantage over many of the other instruments is that it can be a show stopper. It's harder to do it with a bassoon, and it's harder to do it with a flute. But with a violin, it just has that tradition. So do you start it out playing these pretty flamboyant pieces even at the age of seven or so? (laughs) Nope. Nope, not even close. No. I started I think actually in Book One for Suzuki. I think the first piece was "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" variations. A classic. - Yes, indeed. Yep. Playing my 16th notes. It was pretty exciting. Did you play any Bach at that point? No. - No Bach? - Nope. Is that considered too difficult at that age, and if so, why? When you're starting off it's kind of difficult because Bach, especially with his six sonatas and partitas, they kind of require a certain level of technique that you have to master. That's right. They are, in fact, technical exercises. They just happen to be very musical ones. Yeah. Mm-hmm, yeah. So, I mean, if you're starting off, like I was, for the first year, I don't think you can make it to there. Not that fast. However, now at this ripe old age of 16, you have mastered some Bach. A bit, a bit. Not really mastering, just kind of trying to play and hope for the best. We'll settle for that. I'm expecting it's going to be a bit more than that in fact. You're going to start then with a prelude from Bach "Partita No. 3." Mm-hmm, yep. ("Prelude, Partita No. 3", by Johann Sebastian Bach) (audience applauds) We have Alex Zhu with us for The Midday today, and he just played the Prelude from the "Partita No. 3" by Johann Sebastian Bach, who provided a lot of fantastic Bach virtuosic music and also just challenging in more subtle ways too, I suppose. Now, what else do you do? You're at Brookfield High School, Alex. Yep. - And what else do you do there when you're not playing the violin? I also play some golf. I'm part of our varsity golf team. I've been part of it for the last two years now. And last year, actually, we were conference champions, and we've made it to sectionals both times. And we missed out on state qualifying by a bit, but next year, you know. Do you think that's a game that helps you to concentrate? Yeah, it requires concentration. It also requires precision, and you also have to have the ability to, when you make mistakes, you have to just kind of shake them off. Our team motto actually this year was Next shot. (laughter) That was my team motto for years. Still is, if I were on a team. Yeah, our coach gave us these little ribbons that would say "Next shot" on them. He would put them on our bags and be like "Next shot, next shot," and we're like okay, coach. Never applies to music, though. You get it right every time, no missed shots? (laughter) But you do have to, as in golf, I suppose, assuming you ever do make a mistake, you have to recover and compensate and move on. Mm-hmm, yeah. Well, we're going to move on to a composer who was one of the great violinist composers, virtuosi of the 19th century Henryk Wieniawski. Mm-hmm. And what is it that appeals to you about Wieniawski's music? Well, Wieniawski was actually called the Chopin of his time for the violin because, being a Polish composer, he was known for his melodic expressions and just these flowing, just flowing notes. And what I like about him is that he had the technique but he also combined it with tone. And he was contemporaries with Pablo de Sarasate. Sure. And with the second Violin Concerto that I'm gong to be playing today, he actually dedicated to Sarasate himself because it wasn't as flashy as his first one, but this concerto actually has more orchestral integration in the piece. And, as with the first one, the F sharp major one, that one is more technically difficult for the soloist, but the orchestra is just kind of, just there for the ride. Just kind of hopping along. That happens, doesn't it? When you have a virtuoso writing a concerto. Yeah, yeah. The orchestra is often just kind of there. Yeah, but by the time he wrote his second one, he was a little more developed in composing, and this time the orchestra kind of also carries along the melody and kinda introduces the violin, which is kind of cool. In this case, our orchestra is a pianist, Xinhua Be. ("Concerto No. 2 in D Minor" by Henryk Wieniawski) (audience applauds) Alex, what appeals to you about the music of Sarasate? I mean, we've mentioned him now a couple of times, and he has that reputation as being really flamboyant. This piece you're about to play, the one that won you the competition, the Racine Symphony Young Artist competition, flamboyant? Yes, definitely flamboyant. What I like about it is that when you have the opening, it's kind of like an eye-opener in a way. Kinda, no pun intended, but when you have it, when you first hear it, it starts off with an orchestra with bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bum badabum bum-bum. Then you hear the soloist himself repeat this, but on the G string this time. And then it goes and it's really flashy throughout the entire thing. And then after the first page, it slows down a bit. And this is when you hear more of a melody come through, but there's still flashiness and lots of techniques. Like you have your up-bow staccato and then you have a bit of your spiccato and stuff and then it gets kind of exciting there. I suppose so. Yeah. And then you go to the I think it's the lento section, where it's very slow, and, actually, what Sarasate was actually, he claimed that he made it himself. But people nowadays think that he filched the melody from the gypsies. Well, it does translate "Gypsy Ways." Yeah, (laughs) true. And then, actually, in the last section, I like that section the best because that's when it's an upbeat tempo, kind of like a dance in a way, but it's a really fast dance in like 2/4 time, which is kind of interesting. And I think this is when the soloist shines through in the entire piece. Now we're going to turn you loose on "Zigeunerweisen." Thank you. ("Zigeunerweisen" by Pablo de Sarasate) (audience applauds) So, you're finishing, what, your junior year in high school at Brookfield? No, my sophomore year. - Sophomore year, okay. So you have two more years to think about that next move, and in the meantime, does that mean that you travel around the country participating in competitions, or what do you do? I actually stay local for competitions, yeah. No traveling for me. Not much. Just ones around the state mainly. And so, what's your dream piece? What is the next one that you'd be tackling, and then, beyond that, what's the one you say, well, okay, I bet my brother could never even play that one? I think my next piece actually might be Saint Saens' "Introduction et Oh, yes. Another favorite. But I think my most favorite piece would be, actually, Sibelius' Violin Concerto. No kidding? That's another one that you see fairly often, especially of late. It seems almost as if to have been rediscovered. And what do you think that it brings out in you, Alex Zhu, as a violinist? I feel that with Sibelius' Concerto it kind of brings out, I guess, kind of a coldness within, but then you also-- This is Finland we're talking about. It is Finland, yes. (laughs) But it also has some nice heated moments, I think. For example, like with the, there's a double stop moment, and I think that part's pretty cool. Okay, so it's a good, meaty part for a violinist like you. Now, this next piece that we're going to hear

has a rather curious title

"Obertass Mazurka." Do you have any idea what that means? I know that a mazurka is a dance. Sure. So, Wieniawski, I think, actually wrote two mazurkas, and this is his second one, which he wrote for violin and for piano accompaniment. And so we're going back now to Wieniawski. Of course, we heard that movement from And what do we find in this that we wouldn't have found in that in terms of what techniques or things that appeal to you? With the concerto, it's maybe not as flashy, I don't think. - Right, you mentioned. And with the Obertass, it's not too long. It's rather short actually, the shortest piece. But with it, it has a little more flashiness, maybe a little less substance. The melody might not be as good, I think, as Wieniawski's concerto. We're upfront about that. (laughs) Yeah, but it's action-packed throughout the entire thing. Okay, well, we'll see what kind of action we get from this "Obertass Mazurka" by Wieniawski. ("Obertass Mazurka No. 1" by Henryk Wieniawski) (audience applauds) Nice little encore piece. Thank you. Now, other than playing the violin, which obviously you do a lot of, and you mentioned the golf, but in terms of your academics, do you think violin is going to be the brunt of what you do? Or are you going to be one of these people who has like a science major in addition to music as you progress through your academic career? I'm actually thinking of maybe doing a dual enrollment program with both music and with medicine. So, yeah this comes up more often than you might think. Did you mention both of your parents play music too, or no? No. Mainly my mom. My dad sings. Oh, well, that's music usually. Depends on who's doing the singing. (laughter) But in any event, that's a background for you. And so you're going to be taking a lot of chemistry and physics and who knows what they learn in med school these days. That's where you're going. You have an aptitude for those things? I'd say so. Okay, well, good luck to you in that, and we'll hope to hear more from you. You're going to be then participating, as you say, in more competitions? Yeah, actually, this coming Wednesday, I'm going down to, I'm actually going up, correction, to Green Bay to participate in the WSMA State Honors Camp, which I participated in last year. School Music Association. Yep. I was concertmaster actually last year. And then afterwards, after we have a Saturday Work in Progress Concert. And then I'll be going back down to Brookfield and going to the Sharon Lynn Wilson Center to perform with MYSO because we have our Bon Voyage Concert. Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra. Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra, yep. I've been part of that for four years. You have to translate this music lingo. Yeah. Because then our Bon Voyage Concert is for our 10-day Europe tour, which we'll be leaving on this coming Sunday, actually, and we'll be coming back in 10 days. We'll be visiting places such as Vienna and Budapest. Could do worse. Yeah, pretty culturally rich in music. Well, it sounds like you're already living the life of the professional violinist. Not to even mention the medical part of it. Alex Zhu, a pleasure having you on The Midday today and on University Place Presents. Thank you for having me. I'm Norman Gilliland. Thanks for joining us, and I hope you'll join me next time around for University Place Presents. (audience applauds)