Chamber Violinist Is Fit as a Fiddle and Has the Clips to Show for It

When it comes to exercise, violinist Jacqueline Brand does not fiddle around. The assistant concertmaster of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, one of the soloists at tonight’s concert at the Hollywood Bowl, has also been on view in newspaper ads for Brignole’s Fitness Training Club in Pasadena.

“I work out there three or four times a week,” explains Brand, 30. “Somebody had put up the Chamber Orchestra brochure with my picture, and Doug Brignole saw it and sent me a letter saying that they were doing an advertising campaign to show that the gym appeals to everybody, not just musclemen or people with perfect bodies.”

It’s a good thing Brand is so exercise conscious--she has developed a reputation in musical circles for her low-backed concert dresses. For her Hollywood Bowl performance of Vivaldi’s Concerto for Four Violins, she will wear a rose and black bustier by designer Keri Vanderschuit. “I’ve always worked so hard--I gave up my whole childhood to be where I am now,” she says. “So now I like to see how much fun I can have with concert clothes and still be very elegant.”

A Chamber Orchestra member for six years, Brand has also been a soloist with symphony orchestras and just returned from her second summer with the Oregon Bach Festival. She works regularly on film and TV scores such as “Robin Hood” and “Knots Landing” and on recordings made by everyone from Michael Jackson to Barry Manilow. She also plays in the orchestras for musicals, visiting ballet companies and Greek Theatre performers.

“Music is from the heart. It’s about feelings,” she says of her diverse assignments.”