Fiddler Leaves Country by Writing His Passport

Everybody in Nashville knows about Mark O’Connor’s fiddling. That’s why he had to get out of town.

As one of the busiest session players in the country-music capital, O’Connor arguably was the most sought-after hired gun in the business through country’s boom years of the late ‘80s and early ‘90s.

He was named “musician of the year” five consecutive times between 1991-95 by the Country Music Assn. and won the country instrumental Grammy in 1992 for his “New Nashville Cats” album.

At that point, O’Connor began to feel that “I had taken things about as far they could go” in his country and bluegrass playing, “so I sought a more creative means of finding my own voice.”

That voice has come out to a large degree in the world of classical music, which isn’t so much a departure for him as a trip home.

“I actually was steeped on classical music until I was about 10 or 11,” he said during a recent phone interview from a tour stop in Santa Fe, N.M. “I started out learning to play the classical guitar because my mom was an avid fan of classical music. And she was very strict. Classical was all that was allowed to be played on the family stereo.”

These days, the 34-year-old former child prodigy is appearing mostly with symphony orchestras, displaying not only his well-documented instrumental proficiency but also his growing interest in composing.

In recent years he has written two fiddle concertos and six caprices for solo violin. He joins the Pacific Symphony on Saturday at Irvine Meadows to play the third movement of his Fiddle Concerto No. 1 and a work titled “Strings and Threads.”

O’Connor remembers vividly the night his classical training gave way to a passion for folk music. It was 1969; he was 8 and watching “The Johnny Cash Show” on TV.

“I saw [Cajun fiddler] Doug Kershaw performing, and I was instantly hooked,” he said. “I started begging for a fiddle, but it wasn’t until three years later that my mom was convinced I wanted to play folk music. Once she let me, though, she was very supportive, and we kind of discovered this new music together.”

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By the time he graduated from high school, O’Connor had won just about every major fiddle competition in the country and had recorded four albums. He went on to collaborate with mandolinist David Grisman and tour with veteran jazz violinist Stephane Grappelli before embarking on a solo career.

Over the years, his guitar, mandolin and violin recitals have dipped into a wealth of American musical styles, including bluegrass, country, folk, jazz, blues and swing.

“By the early ‘90s, I felt like the producers and musicians wanted me to sound like I did two years before,” he said. “So I began to ask myself, ‘Who is Mark O’Connor?’ Was I this guy who was breathing new music, or was I just starting to repeat myself?”

In 1991, he wrote his first fiddle concerto, which orchestras--with O’Connor as a soloist--have performed more than 100 times in the past three years. Changing hats once again, he won a Grammy the following year for his popular “New Nashville Cats” release, which ranged in style from bluegrass and folk to the blues.

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He followed that in 1994 with “Heroes,” which gathered violin greats including Grappelli, Jean-Luc Ponty, Johnny Gimble, Vassar Clements, Pinchas Zukerman and--you guessed it--Kershaw, among others.

Last year he wrote “Fiddle Concerto No. 2”--commonly called the “Tennessee Concerto”--which includes three movements celebrating the state’s history and bicentennial. At the same time, O’Connor released “Appalachia Waltz” for the Sony Classical label, a collaboration with renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma and double-bassist Edgar Meyer.

But it’s “Strings and Threads” and his first fiddle concerto that he gets most excited talking about.

“ ‘Strings and Threads’ is my take on the history of the American folk fiddle, depicting how the music evolved from Celtic jigs, airs and reels to the influence of strains of American gospel, swing, blues, ragtime and be-bop,” he explained.

“My first concerto [is] a big journey musically because it describes how a fiddler finds his way within an orchestra for the first time,” he said. “I’ve always wondered why there wasn’t more cross-pollination of the folk and classical genres. . . . I think more ideas for fiddling come from the great classical works and composers. There’s a mysterious connection there that I’m trying to explore.”

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Other than wishing that concert-goers simply enjoy themselves, O’Connor hopes that at least some find inspiration to play, as well as listen to, music.

“I’m truly hoping that parents out there will encourage their kids to get involved in music,” said O’Connor, who also teaches music at Vanderbilt University and twice a year, just outside of Nashville, holds a fiddle camp “for all ages, styles and levels of skill.

“I am on a mission to sell the violin because if there were more artists and musicians out there,” he said, “I believe the world would certainly be a better place.”

“Turning kids onto music is the most rewarding thing I do,” he added. “Sure, the money and the awards are nice, but they don’t bring long-lasting happiness. For me, that’s only possible through the legacy that I leave.”

* Richard Westerfield leads the Pacific Symphony and soloist Mark O’Connor in music of Dvorak, William Schuman, Jay Ungar and O’Connor on Saturday at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre, 8800 Irvine Center Drive. 8 p.m. $13-$54. (714) 755-5788.