Alexi Kenney, violinist

Who or what inspired you to pursue a career in music and who or what have been the most important influences on your musical life and career?

My parents are not musicians, but art and music was always encouraged and nurtured in our house. I think that because of where I grew up (the San Francisco Bay Area), I had access to great teachers, excellent youth orchestra programmes, and chamber music starting from a young age. I always knew in my heart that music would play a big role in my life, so the progression of it becoming my career was quite organic.

What have been the greatest challenges of your career so far?

Having to deal with the business side of things. I’ve been told so many times that “the best advocate for you is you,” but the truth is that I’m still terrified to put myself out there and ask for things. I’ve been lucky in that I’ve never been without management, so I’ve always had someone to take care of much of the legwork for me. Only recently, since I’ve started exploring more inter-disciplinary things, commissions, and special projects, have I’ve realized that I’m the originator of the idea, and so it behooves me and my creative development to represent myself passionately to others. Slowly coming out of my shell there!

Which performances/recordings are you most proud of?

Those rare moments when I’ve felt able to access true freedom of possibility and creativity on stage. It’s always my goal, and yet so difficult to achieve.

Which particular works/composers do you think you perform best?

I’m not sure I can be objective about what I play best, but I love the way composers of the Italian Baroque period wrote for the violin, and I never tire of playing Bach. I will always be a fierce advocate for new music, and enjoy the wonderful and unique privilege of being the first custodian of a work I’ve commissioned.

What do you do off stage that provides inspiration on stage?

Anyone who knows me knows I’m food and coffee obsessed—I keep a map of my favourite places and a long list of restaurants to try around the world, as well as recipes. I am a big walker, I run, I practice yoga. In fact, very little of my day is spent with the violin if I don’t have to play. One has to keep up the technique to a degree of course, but I firmly believe that the vast majority of playing music is psychological, and so seeking inspiration from other sources is critical to being not only a great musician but a well-rounded and fulfilled person. Music should remain a gift and a joy, and I try to live with that at the front of my mind every day.

How do you make your repertoire choices from season to season?

I’m currently developing several projects: one is a five-act solo program called Shifting Ground that centers around Bach, interspersing movements of the Sonatas and Partitas with pieces I’ve

commissioned for violin and electronics and culminating in the Chaconne. I also recorded this program for future album release, so stay tuned for that. I collaborated with a wonderful lighting designer Jane Cox this past spring for one of the shows in my tour, which brought this program to another level and got my mind racing with new ideas. I’m eager to do more cross- collaborative work like this in the future. I also have a program of the complete Schumann Violin Sonatas on gut strings and fortepiano that I’m currently working on—Schumann is one of my favorite composers, and I feel that the emotional urgency of his music makes so much sense on period instruments. With concerto repertoire, I’m sometimes consulted by orchestras on what I want to play, and sometimes not. I pared down my list of concertos during the past couple years to include only the ones I really love and want to play, and added some wishlist items as well (Sofia Gubaidulina’s second concerto, “in tempus praesens,” for example).

Do you have a favourite concert venue to perform in and why?

I have a soft spot for Jordan Hall in Boston, which is located inside the New England Conservatory, where I went to school. The sound is golden and refined, and it is a confection of an interior to look at!

What is your most memorable concert experience?

I was playing Prokofiev 2 with the Detroit Symphony in a run of four concerts, my first time playing that piece and my debut with that orchestra. The morning of the second concert I got bored and did a headstand in my hotel room. When I stood up, I realized I had completely lost my hearing out of my left ear. This remained for days, and for each concert I couldn’t hear the orchestra behind me and had to position myself right in front of the conductor’s nose so I could get through the piece using visual cues alone. I have no idea how I sounded and, of course, my hearing cleared up right when I got home. No more headstands for me!

As a musician, what is your definition of success?

Existing in a constant circle of collaboration, inspiration, and creativity.

What advice would you give to young/aspiring musicians?

Never lose your joy. Search for your own unique truth and live it fully. Have real goals for yourself, but keep music as your space to escape into your dreams.

What do you feel needs to be done to grow classical music’s audiences?

Truly integrating music into education. I would love to see every presenting organization invest energy and resources into partnering with community music organizations to bring music and guest artists to schools on a regular basis, for instance. There are so many people doing great and worthy things on a grass-roots level, but with so few resources allocated to music education, it is hard to get anything off the ground and truly integrated into the fabric of the music world at large.

We also need to take a long hard look at the structures we’re perpetuating and constantly be asking if they are working for or against us. Everyone in the field believes that music is great and worth hearing and protecting, but many times I feel the concert-going experience feels stale and unwelcoming. Experimenting with lighting cues, being conscious about when and how we speak in a programme, rethinking entrances and bowing, thoughtfully programming music that has energetic narrative…these are some easy and low-risk ways we can start to evolve and see what works.

What’s the one thing in the music industry we’re not talking about which you think we should be?

That everyone I know has bouts of low self-esteem, jealousy, and insecurity, regardless of their fame or level of success. My belief is that there are enough opportunities out there for everyone if you are creative and open your mind and heart to them, and that every moment expended on negative thoughts is a moment wasted. Perspective is everything.

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

A warm, sunny, windless day spent exploring a beautiful place, eating well, and being with friends. Simple pleasures are often the most satisfying!

Alexi Kenney is appearing in London at Wigmore Hall on Saturday 10 June 3pm as part of the Borletti-Buitoni Trust’s (BBT) 20th anniversary celebrations. He will be performing the UK premieres of two new works commissioned for him with the support of his 2020 BBT award: the rhapsodic Hikari by New Zealand-born Salina Fisher and a quirky work with electronics, The Violinist, by Puerto Rican-born Angélica Negrón. Info/tickets https://www.bbtrust.com/events/bbt-celebrated/bbt20/

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Violinist Alexi Kenney is forging a career that defies categorization, following his interests, intuition, and heart. He is equally at home creating experimental programs and commissioning new works, soloing with major orchestras in the USA and abroad, and collaborating with some of the most celebrated musicians of our time. Alexi is the recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant and a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award.

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