This week’s postcard features the guest artist for our Spirit of the Season Annual Holiday Concert, Edwin Huizinga. On December 19th at 4pm, Huizinga appears with SFGC’s Premier Ensemble in J.S. Bach’s Ciaccona in D minor from Partita No. 2 and Bernat Vivancos’ arrangement of traditional Catalan folk song El Cant Dels Ocells, in a recording filmed in San Francisco’s beautiful Mission Dolores Basilica.

Edwin Huizinga is a Canadian-born violinist who specializes in both Baroque and modern repertoire. He enjoys performing with musicians from all kinds of genres worldwide and has performed with a wide variety of orchestras, choruses, and symphonies.

EDWIN HUIZINGA, FEATURED BAROQUE VIOLIN SPECIALIST

How did you become a musician and composer?

When I was five years old, growing up on a farm in rural Ontario, Canada, my mother bought me my first violin and drove me into town once a week for a half hour violin lesson. My first violin teacher was Linda Drennan, and to this day, I still think about that time, and how much I loved it, and love it still!

As far as composing, well, that is an amazing story. It started with writing short, simple violin parts for my indie rock band, The Wooden Sky, and then I started writing longer, creative things for friends in the film industry, and then one day, one of my favorite opera companies in the world, Opera Atelier, asked me to write a piece, then a cantata, and now for the first time, a full blown huge 30 minute piece with six soloists, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, and full choir too! The name of the game with these kinds of huge projects is teamwork however, and my team, and the people we surround ourselves with, is where the magic really happens.

What is your favorite part of creating music? What about the creative process brings the most joy?

The most joy in the world for me is performing with other friends and collaborators I love, and sharing that joy and love with the audiences around the world. The connection one can make in the moment, after several days of workshops, even with a language barrier, is just absolutely amazing. Music is our universal language!!!

Do you have a least favorite part in creating music? If so, what is it and why? How do you move past that difficult segment of your creative process?

Sometimes, it is difficult doing some of the administration, and finding out when and how busy people are to make a huge project happen, but part of the juggle and the give and take is what makes the end result so absolutely amazing. It’s always worth the work you put into it!!!

A lot of our choristers have parents who are not musicians - what would you like to tell them about what it means for a young musician to be doing music?

For a young human being, music is our mycelial network to our soul, our emotions and our feelings. It is a way they can connect with themselves, with others, and with the natural world also. Speaking out one’s feelings is hard, especially at certain times while growing up, and I really believe music is the connective tissue that can help with that journey.

How does it feel to work with SFGC on their annual holiday concert?

I am overjoyed to be working with the SFGC. Ever since I met Valerie and heard a wonderful concert with my friend Nell Snaidas I was completely hooked and excited and just very moved by the young women, the organization, and of course, their amazing leader!

Of all of the pieces you will be performing at this concert, which is your favorite and why?

Well, this is a no brainer. The Ciaccona is literally the single most amazing epic piece in the violin repertoire, and I think very few violinists in the world would disagree with me, and we are doing a very cool, interesting arrangement that has not been done very often. My dear friend Julia Wedman shared the score with me, and another dear friend Christopher Bagan has helped with the arrangement. I think the story behind this concept, and the composer behind this piece, which is Bach, says it all.

My favorite piece I have learned just for this concert is the Song of the Birds. It is sooo gorgeous, and so beautiful, that I’m just so excited to perform it with all the talented singers.

In our description of the show, you are named a “Baroque violin specialist”. Do you consider yourself to be a specialist in music from the Baroque period? What intrigues you about music from the Baroque period?

Yes, I do consider myself a baroque specialist, and the reason I can say this is because I have spent a considerable amount of time with some of the most amazing baroque specialists on the planet. First learning from them, and then performing and touring with them around the world as well. From performing at Carnegie Hall with my dear friend Cynthia Roberts, to touring with Gustav Leonhardt, and spending years performing with Elizabeth Wallfisch, and getting my start on baroque violin at Oberlin with Marilyn McDonald, I have been soaking in everything they have told me and trying to pour all that information back into the world for my whole professional career!

What are you most excited about sharing at this concert?

I’m most excited to share my passion for the violin with the other young singers. I think sharing our love for something, among artists, colleagues, and friends is a great gift. And perhaps there is someone in the group that might want to take up the violin, or at least have it become one of their favorite instruments to listen to in years to come.

What is your favorite holiday tradition?

My favorite holiday tradition is singing songs with my family. My family is Dutch, and we grew up with some other traditions as well as Christmas, but spending time with my family, and singing songs and cooking together is my favorite.

Is there anything you would like to add? Especially about the work with our choristers?

One other final reason that this project means the world to me, is that I spend my whole life trying to make my violin sound like a voice, and I also spend my time trying to take away all the walls we put up around ourselves as adults so that my true self, and our own stories and dreams can come out of our instruments so that we may share them with the world. Working with young amazing singers gives me the ability to soak in all of their true voices, and their childlike passion, and try to become one with them as they sing and share.

Postcard from Edwin Huizinga