Ronald Smith
Bridget Kibbey
Violinist Alexi Kenney and harpist Bridget Kibbey met about two years ago when they performed together at an Ohio music festival. “I was just so impressed with his incredible musicianship — just chatting with Alexi about life and the way his artistic life seeps out into many areas of life,” Bridget says. “That makes him such a depthful artist and musician.” The two became fast friends and shortly thereafter, collaborators. They’re practically neighbors, whose New York City apartments are just a few blocks away from each other. “I have to say, it makes it more fun,” Alexi says.
Both Alexi and Bridget have thriving careers as solo artists. A linchpin for both has been their interpretations of the music of J.S. Bach, the beloved baroque master composer. Bridget was dubbed “a Yo-Yo Ma of the harp,” by Vogue magazine, referring to the famous cellist whose interpretation of Bach’s cello suites are unparalleled, and Alexi received high praise from The New York Times for his project, Shifting Ground, a 90-minute solo violin program with electronic elements that intersperses movements by J.S. Bach with works by modern composers. It only made sense that the two musicians would bring that shared love of J.S. Bach to their collaboration.
Few composers have written specifically for violin and harp. “I think it's incredibly beautiful, a really beautiful combination of instruments,” says Alexi, who explains that violin paired with piano is more typical, its repertoire going back centuries, made popular by Mozart. “You wouldn't necessarily think it, but the harp and the violin can have a similar sort of texture and in a way that the piano can never, ever reach,” he says. The piano has kind of a minimum dynamic, he explains, and when the violin plays with piano, “you have to kind of buoy yourself up to that dynamic at all times,” he says.
“With harp, I'm finding it so fluid to just explore in between our sounds, and that's been really, really nice for me.” Alexi says that no two performances are the same. “We take music that's written for another instrument and improvise it on the spot for our combination,” he says. “It does make it dynamic and fun.”
Mike Grittani
Alexi Kenney
“Every time I play with Alexi, it's different. There are different choices being made in the moment,” Bridget says. “I liken playing in this collaboration to having a conversation with someone.” She says her goal as his chamber music partner is to listen for what he is saying musically and to support it. “I want to be with him 100%, like, ‘Oh yeah, he's going to go this direction. I'll make sure that I'm there with him,’ and vice versa,” she says. “We each take on varying roles within that. There's not necessarily always a leader and follower, but maybe we're working in tandem. Maybe I'm actually fighting him on something in a phrase, he's fighting me in the phrase, maybe we're joining up, and that's why the program is called ‘Counterpoint in Motion.’”
Counterpoint, Bridget explains, refers to multiple musical lines interacting with each other, “just like a conversation,” she says. There’s a live response to what the other person is doing at all times, she says.
“I think the gift of this collaboration is the intimacy of it,” Bridget says. “Both Alexi and I love to play solo. At the same time, there's something about the conversational element, that you can really go so deep with just two of you … just like in life,” she says. “This program really allows us to dive in deeply …[from] the smallest textures to the most robust, and so that spectrum of color and shapes and expression is quite broad.”
Even though their medium happens to be violin and harp, Alexi believes “all classical musicians feel extremely deeply and strongly about the universality of emotion expressed through this music,” he says. “The reason we do what we do is because we believe that it has purpose, and it has power to touch anyone, no matter who they are or what background they're from.”
“The music itself is powerful, and also you'll hear two human beings … just living their lives through this music,” he says. “I think, when I go to a concert, that's fascinating,” he says. IN
Friends of Chamber Music brings music from diverse periods and cultures, performed by world-class musicians, to the Brazos Valley. Through concerts and outreach programs at area schools, the 501(c)3 arts nonprofit strives to enhance the cultural life of the community. For more information, visit fcmtx.org.
About the Performers
Harpist Bridget Kibbey is considered one of the most versatile and imaginative musical artists in the concert world today. According to The New York Times, “…she made it seem as though her instrument had been waiting all its life to explode with the gorgeous colors and energetic figures she was getting from it.” Kibbey holds Master and Bachelor of Music degrees from The Juilliard School and maintains a harp studio at The Juilliard School Pre-College Program. Kibbey will present her Bach to Brazil project as part of the 2021-22 Carnegie Hall season during the CityWide concert series. She has performed in concert halls throughout the country and popular venues such as National Public Radio Tiny Desk concerts. Originally from Northwest Ohio, Kibbey is sought out by contemporary composers who write pieces specifically for her and the harp.
Violinist Alexi Kenney enjoys performing as a soloist with major orchestras and collaborating with many celebrated musicians. He is at home in the classical and contemporary genres and also enjoys arranging and performing songs of popular artists, such as Dua Lipa and Joni Mitchell. He is the recipient of a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award and an Avery Fisher Career Grant. His performance dates for the 2021-22 concert season include debuts as soloist with the Pittsburgh Symphony, Orchestra de la Suisse Romande, Virginia Symphony, Reno Philharmonic, Eugene Symphony, and New Haven Symphony. Born in Palo Alto, California, Alexi is a graduate of the New England Conservatory in Boston. His approach to creating music and playing the violin defies labels as he pursues his own interests and intuition.
Counterpoint in Motion - Live concert and forum featuring Bridget Kibbey, harp | Alexi Kenney, violin Saturday, Feb. 12, 2022 5 p.m. A&M United Methodist Church 417 University Drive, College Station
No registration is required for attending the live event. To view the livestream, register online at fcmtx.org.
Program Saint-Saëns Fantasie for violin and harp, Op. 124 C.P.E. Bach Sonata in G Minor, H 542.5 Bartok Romanian Folk Dances, Sz. 56 Biber Mystery Sonata No. 1 in D Minor, "The Annunciation" Messiaen Vocalise-Etude Strozzi Tadimento Dowland Flow My Tears M. de Falla Siete Canciones Populares Españolas (selections) Rodrigo 4 Madrigales Amatorios Currier Night Time Suite
Program subject to change
