MusiKaravan Visits Ventura County
“Hello Gwendolyn! This is Etienne. We are two violinists traveling and performing for employees of organic farms and wineries,” read the text.
Friends of mine told Etienne I helped harvest grapes at Clos des Amis Winery on South Mountain above Santa Paula in Ventura County’s Heritage Valley.
“Maybe we could join too, play, capture some images? We make videos of our encounters and about the craft and life of the artisans we meet.”
So what would you do as a violinist if a pandemic cancels your concerts?
Buy a 1971 VW bus and take your show on the road, of course!
At least that’s what France’s Etienne Gara and Korea’s YuEun Kim did.
Gara was slated to spend the summer at the Hollywood Bowl with the LA Philharmonic, Kim at various festivals.
Raised in Paris, violinist Etienne Gara performs extensively, played on Leonard Cohen’s last album, and created Sketches of Miles, inspired by the work of Miles Davis. Since 2019, he served as Artist in Residence at USC’s Brain and Creativity Institute where he recorded his French Recital CD on the Leonora Jackson Stradivarius from 1714. A graduate of the New England Conservatory, Etienne has studied with Donald Weilerstein, Midori, and Itzhak Perlman.
It was through Gara’s studies with Midori at USC that he met YuEun Gemma Kim. . A YouTube superstar, Kim has 6.6 million views for her “Chopin : Nocturne in c sharp minor for violin and piano” which is part of her project to arrange Chopin for violin. According to Midori, “YuEun possesses an incredible passion for the violin. She is a driven, committed player with a unique personality and voice.”
After doing courtyard concerts for socially distanced audiences as well as a Delirium Musicum performance of “Ciao Bella” from The Money Heist recorded on iPhones on three continents,
they came up with this idea to bring their music to people.
And what do you do if you’re the Art Predator?
You write about it on your wine blog and you pitch the story to the local paper which picks it up and features it on the cover along with a photograph you took!
Here’s more about MusiKaravan’s visit in “Music in the Malbec” as well as clips in the series Rhone Roam #1, Rhone Roam#2 and Rhone Roam #3 when they performed for us on our deck after our wine pairing dinner! Rumor has it they are going to do a video about that experience too which included planning, menu making, and an elderberry galette from berries from a shrub I grew!
art predator 