Thunder Bay-born violinist Gregory Lewis returns home to perform for us as we of Consortium Aurora Borealis launch our exciting 46th concert season on September 14, at Trinity United Church because of needing to use the wonderful piano there. Performing a diverse program of virtuosity and lyricism, he will be joined by the acclaimed Canadian pianist Paul Williamson. We are most privileged to hear Gregory on a very special instrument, whose three-year use he won through a competition in the late summer of 2023. It’s the gorgeous 1768 “Miller” Gennaro Gagliano violin, generously on loan to him from the Canada Council for the Arts’ Musical Instrument Bank. One year later, the critically-acclaimed Canadian cellist Cameron Crozman was awarded the use of an instrument by the same maker, a Gennaro Gaglianocello from around 1750.
I have asked Gregory Lewis, now twenty-seven years old, to share with us his thoughts on his program, the violin, growing up in Thunder Bay, and more:
“My first encounter with classical music occurred at a Consortium Aurora Borealis concert when I was only three years old. My parents wanted to expose me to high-calibre classical music at a young age, and they chose a program of Vivaldi violin concerti performed by Tara- Louise Montour for my first live concert. They selected back-row seats in case I grew fussy and they needed a quick escape, but the outcome couldn’t have been more opposite. I was enraptured by the violin, spending much of the concert with my eyes closed, standing on the pew, and playing the air violin. My parents recall asking me to sit down, but a nearby audience member whispered to my parents not to interrupt me, as “something very important and special [was] taking place.” Thus began my obsession with the violin! After begging my parents for lessons, I began studying the violin at the age of five, and have since built a career traveling the world as a solo violinist and chamber musician.
Building a career as a professional classical musician requires a tremendous amount of hard work and luck. Growing up in smaller communities like Thunder Bay does make it more difficult compared to musicians raised in cities like New York or Boston, who have far more resources at their disposal. However, I was immensely fortunate to have a classical pianist as my mother, who very carefully selected Olga Medvedeva as my teacher. I studied with Olga for eleven years and owe her everything. She was thorough and supportive as a teacher, and she encouraged me to expand my view beyond Thunder Bay at a very young age. I began doing competitions in Southern Ontario at the age of eight and began attending international music festivals at the age of fourteen. I admire Olga and my parents for letting me travel so much at a young age, as it offered me vital perspective as I considered the prospects of pursuing music professionally.
My parents sent me to Winnipeg at the age of sixteen to begin studying with Oleg Pokhanovski. It was certainly daunting to leave home at such a young age, but in Winnipeg I was surrounded by so many young musicians who shared my ambitions and goals. I also had access to many competitions, performance opportunities, and educational outlets, all of which greatly enriched my musical training. From Winnipeg, I went on to pursue studies at Yale University and the Colburn Conservatory, studying with Ani Kavafian, Martin Beaver, and the Brentano Quartet. These final mentors all pursued careers almost entirely in chamber music, and have been immensely influential and supportive of my career path in joining the Callisto Quartet.
Joining a professional string quartet first became a career goal of mine when I joined a student quartet in Winnipeg, and I have found great joy and fulfillment pursuing this career. Is there any greater life than touring the world performing string quartets alongside close friends? I can’t imagine one, and am endlessly grateful. Around my quartet schedule, I’m able to squeeze in a few recitals and concerto performances each year, including my trip home to perform at Consortium Aurora Borealis!
Opening this homecoming will be Mozart’s elegant Sonata in B flat Major, K. 378, captivating audiences with its refined melodies and elegant gestures. Mozart pioneered many developments in the genre, with equality of the two instruments standing out as perhaps his greatest innovation to the sonata. Earlier works for the violin and keyboard leaned heavily in either direction, with one instrument remaining subservient to the other. But in his later violin sonatas, Mozart sought balance between the two instruments, allowing both instruments to play primary and secondary roles equally throughout. This equality is displayed throughout the sonata, where the piano and violin each take turns presenting the themes of all three movements. Mozart’s passion for operatic style abounds, with the sonata featuring numerous shifts in character and emotion. The first movement’s lyricism gives way to a pensive second movement, concluding with a jubilant, dance-like finale.
Mozart will be followed by Ravel’s show-stopping Sonata No. 2 for Violin and Piano, which ranges from jazz to fiery virtuosity and everything in between! The first movement is quintessential Ravel: the style is impressionistic and the textures are smooth, gentle, and pastel. Much of the first movement feels distant and subdued, making the movement’s climax all the more effective. In the second movement, Ravel draws entirely on American jazz and blues traditions to create a movement that is fun and bombastic. Famously, the violin and piano are rarely in the same key during the second movement, a technique known as bitonality. Each instrument alternates between G Major and A flat Major, but rarely sharing the keys at the same time. The finale is a perpetual motion, with my violin part being pushed to the very limits of what is possible, both in terms of speed and technique. The fiery finish is thrilling and spellbinding, tying together one of the most diverse and iconic works for violin and piano.
After intermission, we will delve into the rich Czech heritage with Smetana’s poignant Z Domoviny, a piece that resonates deeply with themes of homeland and nostalgia. Z Domoviny was written in Smetana’s final period of composing, when he – like Beethoven – had gone completely deaf. The isolation and loneliness of his deafness is vivid throughout the first movement, which is woven with bittersweet melodies longing for better times of the past. Smetana described these two duets as being written in a “lighter style, more for domestic use than concert performance.” That said, the heartfelt, personal writing has elevated these beloved duets to a central place within the violin repertoire, appearing in concert settings for over one hundred years.
To conclude the program, we turn to the grandeur of Strauss’ timeless Violin Sonata. While Strauss is best known for his symphonic tone poems and operas, his early career saw the output of numerous instrumental works in traditional genres. Such works include a violin concerto, piano quartet, three string quartets, and his violin sonata. Like many of his works from this time, the violin sonata is unapologetically romantic. All three movements are ripe with soaring melodies, lush harmonies, and thrilling climaxes. Underlying it all is Strauss’s masterful ability for storytelling. The sense of heroism, drama, conflict, and resolution is apparent throughout this masterpiece, elevating Strauss’s sonata among the very best compositions ever written for the violin and piano.
This program has been many years in the making.
The Ravel sonata has been in my repertoire the longest, with me first performing the work in 2017.The Mozart sonata followed in 2022, while the Smetana and Strauss are both 2024 projects. I knew I wanted to bring back the Ravel and Mozart sonatas, and the Smetana and Strauss were both easy selections to round off the program. I first heard Smetana’s Z Domoviny in 2019, performed by a fellow student at the Colburn Conservatory in Los Angeles. I was stunned by the intimate vulnerability of the first movement and decided I was going to learn the work right that moment. And then COVID-19 happened, forcing me to spend fifteen months playing only music for solo violin. As live music emerged in 2021, I was fully immersed in my studies at Yale University, and Smetana didn’t fit alongside the other works I was programming.
Fast-forward to 2024, and the time has come! I needed a short, light work that could precede the Strauss sonata, and Smetana fits the bill perfectly. The Strauss sonata is a work that many violinists naturally come to in our mid-to-late twenties. We spend all our university years immersed in the sonatas of Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert, and Schumann, where there is so much depth to explore, providing fertile grounds for learning and growth. After such intense repertoire, it makes total sense to run in the opposite direction post-studies and play Strauss! You get to play with your heart on your sleeve, the emotions are raw, and overall it’s just very fun. There’s a time and a place for very serious music, and now seems like the time and place to play repertoire that is full of passion and exuberance.
This concert isn’t just a performance; it’s a homecoming on several levels. After my initial exposure to the violin at a Consortium Aurora Borealis concert, I made my debut with Consortium Aurora Borealis at the age of fifteen, performing the very same Vivaldi concerto that I heard back when I was three. For this recital, I will be joined by Paul Williamson, who was my roommate all through my studies both in Winnipeg and Los Angeles. We have performed together an uncountable number of times and have been close friends for over a decade. I sincerely cannot wait to perform in my hometown again, alongside a close friend, surrounded by the community that supported me during my upbringing, on a concert series through which I discovered my love of classical music. I look forward to having everyone join us in celebrating my return home with this evening of wonderful musical masterpieces!”
Canadian violinist Gregory Lewis enjoys a diverse career as a soloist and chamber musician. Gregory has appeared with orchestras including the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra, Colburn Academy Virtuosi and Strathcona Symphony Orchestra, among others. He received first prize at the National Music Festival and second prize at the WMC McLellan Competition.
In 2022, Lewis joined the Callisto Quartet, which received the grand prize at the 2018 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and second prize at the 2019 Banff International String Quartet Competition. As a member of the Callisto Quartet, Gregory has performed throughout North America and Europe, and held the Fellowship Quartet in Residence position at Yale University.
Lewis also serves as assistant director of the Heartbeat Music Project, a non-profit organization providing tuition-free music education to K–12 Indigenous youth living on a Navajo Reservation. He holds degrees from the University of Manitoba, Yale University and the Colburn Conservatory. We are delighted to welcome him back to Thunder Bay!
I encourage you to attend as many of our six remaining concerts as you can. It really fires up the performers when there is a good showing at the venue, with an enthusiastic and appreciative audience. Many thanks for your continued support! gorgeous new 46th Season Brochure, designed for us by eleven-seventeen.com, will be available, as will our 46th season bookmarks, so please be sure to pick up yours!
I look forward to seeing you in person on Saturday, September 28 at St. Paul’s United Church for our “Venice to Vienna” concert with strings and harpsichord, as we return to the Baroque!
Warmly,
Elizabeth