Lin ‘sings’ solo violin at Sixth and I

Virtuoso violinist Joseph Lin will challenge preconceived notions of the pipe organ’s grandeur at the hands of Bach and turn attention to the intimacy of the composer’s Partitas Nos. 1, 2 and 3 for solo violin on Saturday.

Lin’s recital is presented by the Washington Performing Arts Society as part of their Encore Series and will take place in the District’s hollowed Sixth & I Historic Synagogue.

“In some ways, these [partitas] do not strike us as obviously written for the solo violin,” the multiaward-winning assistant professor of violin at Cornell University said. “They push the envelope of what a violin is required to do.”

Lin asks that audiences think of the violin as the instrument nearest in pitch to the human voice and as such, one voice sings one melody at a time. The violin is not an instrument that creates harmony like a piano and if there is the slightest suggestion of such, it might be the playing of two strings at a time.

“Bach’s music asks us to sustain three or four strings, or voices, at a time,” Lin continued. “To project these multivoiced polyphonies with our primarily melodic instrument in the way that Bach has written does require a great amount of imagination and creativity.”

Lin feels he is up to the task and enjoys the drama of solo violin as well as the challenge of connecting with his audience in a way that is usually never done with a full orchestra behind him.

“When you are the only instrument, the audience — performer dynamic is somewhat turned around,” he said. “Instead of worrying about pushing my sound out, I can think more in terms of drawing the audience in.”

“Joseph Lin may be one of the best kept musical secrets in America,” WPAS President Neale Perl said. “He is a master musician and a great Bach specialist. That is why he was chosen to record all of Bach’s solo works for violin at such a young age — and why WPAS is fortunate to engage him for this unique concert.”