When Nicolas Kendall was growing up in Silver Spring amid a family of musicians, it was a given that he study the violin. He lacked enthusiasm because he hated practicing. Several years and a fistful of important prizes altered his attitude. When he conducts a master class for local high school students prior to his concert Saturday with National Philharmonic, he has one key word for them: Practice.
“I’ll tell them it’s worth the effort even if they’d rather spend that time with their friends,” he says. “To do anything in life worth while takes work, and as young people apply themselves they’ll discover that it pays off.”
Despite his reluctance to practice, Kendall loved playing his instrument and mastered it so well by the age of 17 that he won the National Symphony Orchestra’s Young Artist Competition in 1995. That’s when he began to contemplate the possibility of a music career.
Within a few years, he picked up more prizes. Upon winning the Young Concert Artists International Auditions in 2002, a whole world of recitals in renowned halls and appearances with major symphony orchestras materialized. Today he balances his solo performances with chamber ensembles and membership in the Dryden String Quartet, the East Coast Chamber Orchestra (ECCO) and the string trio Time for Three which he co-founded.
Direct from a Time for Three guest performance with the Phoenix Symphony, he looks forward eagerly to the National Philharmonic concert and the pairing of “The Four Seasons” as viewed two centuries apart by composers Vivaldi and Astor Piazzolla.
While Kendall was cultivating his classical expertise, he dabbled in many different styles, even hip hop, with the goal of learning his own voice. He soon discovered that young people in club settings are receptive to appealing chamber music. His expanded repertoire of works written expressly for him and/or his ensembles by such contemporary composers as Jennifer Higdon, Chris Brubeck, Daniel Kellogg and William Bolcom enjoys a young following.
“I love diversity and am not good at doing one thing all the time,” he says. “I’m lucky to have Time for Three and my other ensembles to keep things fresh and introspective. I want my concert with the National Philharmonic to give the audience a fresh perspective on Vivaldi and enjoyment of the added energy and playful fun they’ll hear in Piazzolla. The rhythm and spontaneity of these two works break down the walls and change the ideas people have about concert halls.”
If you go
Violinist Nicolas Kendall and the National Philharmonic perform “The Four Seasons” by Vivaldi and Piazzolla
Where: Music Center at Strathmore
When: 8 p.m. April 11
Info: $29 to $79, kids 7 to 17 free; 301-581-5100; nationalphilharmonic.org
