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SPIKES&STRINGS
» RACHEL BARTON PINE, MUSICAL CHAMELEON
Crystal Chan
Rachel Barton Pine’s packing up
after a concert: like many rock
musicians, her instrument case
is adorned with stickers of her
musical heroes—AC/DC, Led
Zeppelin, Metallica, and Black Sabbath.
She’s exhilarated, fuelled by the rush of
playing to a mosh pit of screaming, heavy
metal fans. Yet, unlike many rock musicians,
Pine might well feed off that energy
to play a concert the very next day with her
historically informed early music and
baroque chamber music ensemble, Trio
Settecento—or perhaps a concert at
Carnegie Hall as a concerto soloist.
Pine is a musical chameleon. She is a
world-class classical violinist, early music
aficionado, heavy metal rocker, fiddler,
occasional jazz and klezmer player, history-making
composer, musical educator
and philanthropist. And she’s only 35.
A FAST LEARNER
The Chicago native started violin lessons
at age three. She progressed at an astonishing
speed: by age seven she made her debut
with the Chicago String Ensemble, and by age 10
she was sharing the stage with the Chicago
Symphony.
“I was lucky because I was home-schooled
from third grade on,” Pine explained.“So the time
I had at my disposal to devote towards exploring
music was more than most kids who attend traditional
school would have had.”
When she was around 12 years old, she started
playing with friends who were studying at various
universities in her area—Northwestern, Roosevelt,
DePaul. She attended pre-college conservatory and
finished her formal training when she was 17. “I
was able to expedite things,” she said. “I received
all my university undergrad and master’s level education
during my high school years.”
FROM VIOLA DA GAMBA TO VIPER
Her homeschooling also allowed more time for
exploring music beyond standard violin lesson
repertoire. Having less homework, she was able to
indulge her developing passion for new instruments
and sounds. At 14 she started exploring
baroque instruments such as the viola da gamba.
She read through a world of chamber repertoire
with her friends. She was also introduced to different
genres through fiddle camps; she’s taught at
Mark O’Connor’s summer fiddle camp since 1997.
There, she jams with top Celtic, klezmer, jazz, and
country musicians. “It’s incredibly eye-opening to
see how many different things can be done on one
instrument!” she exclaimed.
Since 2009, Pine has been a member of Earthen
EARTHEN GRAVE
Grave, a doom and thrash metal
band. In the band she plays the
six-string viper created by her
friend Mark Wood.The viper is an
electronic instrument featuring
an extension on the range of a
violin by more than an octave
and which straps onto the body,
“which is perfect for heavy
metal,” explained Pine, “because
then you can headbang!” Pine
compares playing the instrument
with playing the six or
seven-string baroque viola
d’amore, one of her favourite
instruments.
The violinist’s philosophy is antithetical to the
notion of the musician-specialist, or the musician
who becomes an expert on one specific instrument,
playing method, genre or repertoire; she
believes her diverse musical adventures form a
symbiotic relationship with each other.“I think the
more you can learn about any kind of music the
better a kind of musician you become in all music,”
she related.“Classical music is not its own style off
in a corner, not relating to anything else. Just as
Beethoven used Ländler rhythms and Bartòk used
Hungarian folk melodies, here in the 21 st century
various classical composers are starting to be really
inspired by rock music in their art music.”
Playing in Earthen Grave has certainly helped
Pine analyze her own musicianship tremendously.
There is a much greater live feedback element
playing in a band than there is in a classical setting.“That’s
been really interesting and educational
as a performer,” she claimed. “I’m able to figure
out: they’re just kind of standing there, not moving
with the beat—what can we be doing to engage
them more? Or: here they’re really thrashing
around—what are we doing right that we want to
be sure to replicate next time? Of course classical is
a very different genre than heavy metal; it’s much
more sophisticated in terms of its emotional
palette. But with every kind of music you still want
to connect to the audience on a gut level and have
them experiencing the emotions of the music
right along with you as intensely as possible. So I
feel playing with a heavy metal band has made me
a better performer overall.”
THE HARD KNOCK MUSICAL LIFE
Pine’s self-proclaimed mission in life is to share clas-
PHOTOS : ANDREW ECCLES
PHOTO : PAUL NATKIN
22 Mai 2010 May