Cone
Performed by Mary Sokol Brown, violin
Composed by Owen Underhill
Directed by Sean Patrick Shaul
Filmed on November 20, 2020 at the Annex Theatre in Vancouver, BC
Statement from Owen Underhill, composer:
I am privileged to participate as a composer in Turning Point Ensemble’s 1+1+1… project, and thank violinist Mary Sokol Brown for asking me to compose a piece for her. We are living during this pandemic in times that are intense and isolating. As musicians, we are now often distanced or totally separated from each other and all those with whom we would normally share the special experience of live performance. Mary suggested that the solo for her could reference a previous composition of mine which featured her in a solo role, and therefore this work is based on our past shared musical experiences. The new piece I have written retains features of the original but is also quite altered and expanded as I have reflected on how we are all struggling to continue our artistic identity and personal lives within a radically altered context. Cone contains both a fierce outward expression and a more introspective meditative quality, effectively two opposite but connected sides of our new reality. I would observe that we access a heightened and more potent sense of artistic voice within a more tightly controlled and enclosed environment – a highly focused cone of direct artistic communication. Within that sensibility, Cone is certainly a violin creation which takes into account the subtle, exacting and tangible relationships between the performer, the bow, the strings, and their unique instrument.