Jacques Forestier, 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?

One of the greatest joys in my life is having been immersed in a musical family– both my parents are musicians, my mother is a violinist, and my father is a classical guitarist. From birth I was surrounded by all things music, so it became as engrained in my soul as learning a language. I started on violin at the age of two with my mother after having attended all of her concerts (sometimes misbehaving…which was attributed to my wanting to also do what she was doing!). They decided to give it a try and ever since then I’ve been inseparable from music. I’ve never questioned if it’s something I’m meant to do, it’s all I’ve ever known, so my mother has definitely been that figure who inspired me from the start and she still is a most trusted source of advice and wisdom! The most influential presence since my mother is a teacher whom I had the honour of studying with for four years at Curtis, and now the joy of calling her a friend, Pam Frank. She very much changed my life and reinvigorated my love for music. I learned to understand the music we play and how to think for ourselves in constant servitude to meaning. I owe her tremendous progress in my evolution as a musician and person.

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

For me, what I’m able to perform best is related entirely to how well or extensively I understand the music I play which is how I channel my inner confidence. Among those, I would like to think I have strengths in interpreting Schubert, Brahms, Dvorak, and Bartok as a few examples.

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

One could really write an entire piece on the subject of programming. I think what you choose to offer in a particular season is so important, because what you select can significantly impact the success of your concerts, and alter how you’re able to live your life. For example, the amount of music you choose to take on will affect how much practising you will have to do. Even more specifically, the balance of music you’re familiar versus unfamiliar with in one given season is an important factor in your choice. I think it’s extremely important to ensure you are programming fresh music otherwise your evolution as a musician and what you have to offer will stagnate. That being said, it’s critical to balance these with works you know you are comfortable with. It’s important to me to have that rock to feel grounded when the stress hits. How you programme a recital is also a crucial element to consider – how each work interacts with the other in order to have a coherent and harmonious journey.

What advice would you give to young or aspiring musicians?

There are two very important beliefs that I have and would offer to anyone on the same journey as me. When we play, it’s always for the composer and the music; everything else that you practise or prioritise to achieve this, you build from and start with the music, not the other way round. And once you start to cultivate your musical values and identity, stay true to them, but always maintain a sense of curiosity, and try to remember how many possibilities there are in music.

Tell us about your new album, Song & Dance.

The concept behind Song & Dance was born out of my own exploration of two diverging kinds of magical material – song and dance, and particularly how one’s sound can capture each. I always ask myself when looking at a score, “what kind of sound is the composer trying to get at here?”, instead of just going with the sound I like the most or that feels the best. It was very important to me that my first album wouldn’t focus on only one kind of playing because I like to think one of my strengths is in how much variety I have in my playing. I incorporated this current fascination with different kinds of musical profile with as much diversity of music from a cultural point of view, which resulted in Gershwin and Schubert and Brahms, as well as Bach paired with Ysaÿe and Bartok. I also pulled from music that has meant a lot to me over the course of my life so far – choosing Gershwin was important to me having studied in the U.S. for a number of years, Bartok has been a very important composer in my life, Wienawski’s Polonaise was the first virtuoso work I learned, so every piece on the album is really also a commentary on my own identity and journey.

If you had to pick a favourite track from the album, what would it be and why?

I’m particularly happy with how the Wagner and Bartok came together. I really feel with the Wagner we were able to bring the meaning of the music and intention of the composer as clearly as we could to the forefront of our interpretation. With the Bartok, I think there’s some really great energy and atmosphere throughout and we were able to discover and highlight many details in the score that haven’t perhaps been explored often enough.

Jacques Forestier’s debut album, Song & Dance, is out now on Warner Classics

jacquesforestier.com