GO VIOLIN
Some of the life's
most memorable chapters come in complete surprise. A chance turn, timing,
fate...a multitude of factors collide and something memorable occurs. Two
years ago, this month, I had such a chance event that brought something to
me that I still can't put my fingers on, I only know I am grateful for the
occurrence. It was a family vacation to Disneyland in California, my wife
and two boys, meeting my in-laws there. Fine enough, the vacation itself, my
first trip to California and a week of fun with the kids.
On Disney's "Main Street", for those who haven't been, are shops and every
couple of blocks, a different performance. It might be a band,
jugglers...who knows, but always top-notch. Now bear in mind, I graduated
high school in 1975 which should tell you all you need to know about what
kind of music I listened to. Our first night there, my father-in-law and I
are leaving a restaurant and there is a violinist performing solo with a
full orchestra backing him up electronically. He is playing Ave Maria and
both of us stop in our tracks. This is one of those times when being Italian
worked against both of us as we both began to well-up almost immediately, so
moving was this sound.
The rest of the family gathered and took approving notice. They decided to
move on for an evening stroll and to spend money on the kids. I sat down
amongst other listeners and began to scrutinize. The backup orchestration,
played digitally through a great sound system was beyond belief. I had never
listened to classical music and particularly not violin. The young man
playing was obviously very good, playing the solo pieces live over the
background. I figured, yeah, yeah...I could come out here with an electric
guitar playing over Hendrix and sound really good! There was a table set up
to the side with three people selling his C.D.'s and a little biography
sheet.
I picked up one of the bio's and began to read. Drew Tretick began the study
of violin at age five. The son of prodigal violinists and sibling to a few
of the same. His siblings play for various orchestras, The Philadelphia
Philharmonic....this was getting interesting. I began to chat with a
gentleman who was helping out selling C.D.'s. He was clearly a big fan of
Drew's as he launched into a littany of his attributes and documented
musical genius. "Who's the back-up orchestra, you know, the other fifty
violins, piano, timpani, harp...? "Drew plays all that stuff." Huh? Now, my
interest is going off the charts. "That's all him?" The guy told me how Drew
records every piece in his studio, layering it up digitally. He has the
orchestra piece for every song stored, whatever song he chooses to play,
press a number, like a jukebox, and that song comes up and he plays the solo
piece over it. Stunning.
I am hooked and now, each of the five nights of the week that he is
performing, I am out there waiting for him. I hang around all night to talk
with him after the show. He politely and patiently signs C.D.'s at the end
of the night, giving each guest unlimited time to question him. My family
thinks I have lost my mind as each night, I forgo dinner plans to wait for
Drew. I begin making friends in the audience, seeing repeat faces night
after night. Some of these people just live nearby and come to Disney to
hear Drew. An older Asian woman tells me how she travels four hours, one
night a week to come and hear him. It is that impressive. He draws, by far,
the biggest crowd of any of the performers. People of all walks, punkers
with the spiked hair, old, young, white, green, red...you name it.
Each night as I sit, a euphoric California evening breeze mingling with the
music, I am more taken with the music. Nothing I have ever listened to has
taken me like this. Drew is Julliard trained. The first ever to do his
recital on electric violin and to earn a Master's and Bachelor's in four
years. He taught for a while at Berkeley in Boston, then headed West with
four hundred bucks and his violin. Each night we talk and I am more amazed
with his story. While the rest of us toil a life away at something we can
only marginally stand, here is a stand-out guy, true to his heart, following
a dream. His Indiana roots betray him as he is a perfect gentleman, kind,
soft-spoken. My last night there, the last song, was, I am loathe to admit,
very bittersweet for me. I knew it is unlikely I'll hear him play live
again. I am grateful for the new friendship and we stay in touch after I get
home. He has his little posse, a great group of folks, and I stay in touch
with them as well.
Arriving home I spend the next six months with headphones glued to my head.
I swear I know every nuance of every song on his four C.D.'s. This past
January he went to London; hired the London Symphony and recorded a new C.D.
I am ordering them by the dozen to give away to friends. This chance meeting
on a family vacation had a profound affect on me. I fell in love with the
man and the music and it really became a part of me. I often think of how
much we miss by chance and how much less I would be had I not met him and
made his music part of my life. You can try it for yourself, without the
California breeze, at
www.DrewTretick.com.