Q + A with PRINCIPAL VIOLA
LAURENT GRILLET-KIM Q You’ve lived in France and the
U.S., and travelled around the world on cruise ships. Now that you’re in Calgary, what’s the best part of living here?
A
My favourite part is living near the mountains. I go ski touring whenever I can with some friends from the Orchestra.
Q
How old were you when you started playing an instrument?
A
Laurent Grillet-Kim
Greg MacKay
I started playing the violin at age seven. I originally wanted to play cello, but there wasn’t a cello teacher close to our house.
Q What drew you to the viola? A When I was living in France, I
played in a string quartet for a long time, and even though I was playing first violin, I was always attracted to the inner voices. As a chamber musician I started to think that these inner voices were key to the sound of a quartet or an orchestra, and that’s
where the music really was. My ego prevented me from acting on it at the time — playing first violin was more easily rewarding! As I grew up, I guess I got a bit of control over my ego and decided to try playing the viola as well as the violin. At Indiana University I majored in both instruments, but gave up the violin almost completely when I joined the CPO in September 2014.
Q
Is there a particular piece of music or a performance that had a major impact on you?
A
It would be hard to talk about one piece in particular, but I can clearly remember the impact that both Mozart and Beethoven’s music had on me. Although it may sound cliché, they really shaped my idea of beauty. As for a performance, I heard the Alban Berg quartet in Bordeaux when I was 15 or so — they played Bach’s The Art of Fugue and Beethoven’s Opus 130 from the Great Fugue. I remember being shocked by the first notes, the quality of the sound. I feel like I’ve never heard anyone playing with a sound that beautiful since then. It really stuck with me.
Q What do you enjoy most about
being a musician, and what is most challenging?
A
Although it is not very poetic, what I enjoy most is the fact that I can make a living being a musician. Lots of people think being a musician is a hobby — they don’t realize the time and effort you need in order to get an even mediocre job. For me the greatest challenge is to be consistent. Maintaining a certain level of playing is really difficult as it requires a lot of discipline in practising.
Q You’ll be performing
Bartók’s complex Viola Concerto on 28 + 29 February. Are you excited?
A
I’m excited for the challenge. I don’t often perform as a soloist, so many aspects of this performance are demanding. Technically, the piece is difficult, and being comfortable with it to make it sound genuine requires a lot of work. Preparing mentally and physically to play a solo performance is quite different than preparing for a concert with the orchestra.
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