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V.com weekend vote: How much do you know about the history/context of the music you play?

October 12, 2025, 3:49 PM · It's easy to get so involved in learning how to play music, that one forgets to learn or to even think about its history, context and background.

To be fair, "it sounds nice and I like the way it makes me feel" is certainly a good enough reason to learn a piece of music. Or, "we're playing it this week in orchestra, I need to learn the notes, lickety-split." But knowing the history and some contextual facts not only can enhance one's feeling toward the music, but also inform one's approach.

So I will throw the question to you: How much do you typically know about the history and context of music you play? Do you find yourself learning music without having the benefit of a wider context? Are you a longtime musician who simply knows a lot from past education and experience? Are you proactive about looking up the history and notes about pieces that are new to you? Do you have a teacher, conductor or mentor who is especially good about sharing this information? Do you actually find it a distraction, to go into history and context? Please participate in the vote, and then share your thoughts!

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Teaching the Stories Behind the Music

Laurie Niles

October 11, 2025, 11:42 PM · A high school student of mine recently came to her lesson, wanting a bit of help with new piece for school orchestra, an arrangement of Shostakovich's "Waltz No. 2."

"Wow, cool piece to be playing in orchestra!" I said. "Did your teacher tell you anything about Shostakovich?"

The student looked at me, blankly. I realized that I'd better fill in that blank.

So we launched into an interesting and engaging conversation about the Soviet composer Dimitri Shostakovich and his artfully rebellious works, many of them created in the face of a Communist regime that had placed a target on his back. Together we looked up "Waltz No. 2" - it was actually a somewhat later work, one of his most popular. It was written for film, and the melody line she was playing was originally written for saxophone - it was written to be a bit jazzy.

Suddenly my student (as well as the parent, sitting on the couch) had become a lot more interested in this music.

"How did you know these things?" the parent ask me as they were packing up to leave. "Did you take a special class?"

I laughed, "No, just life as a curious musician!" Keep reading...

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For the Record, Op. 354: Tim Fain; Musicians of the Old Post Road; Camille Berthollet

Laurie Niles

October 10, 2025, 3:49 PM · Welcome to "For the Record," Violinist.com's weekly roundup of new releases of recordings by violinists, violists, cellists and other classical musicians. We hope it helps you keep track of your favorite artists, as well as find some new ones to add to your listening! Click on the highlighted links to obtain each album or learn more about the artists.

Unraveling
Tim Fain, violin

"'Unraveling' expresses my coming to terms with our broken, unstable world - a cry for understanding, but also a call to action, coming back to gratitude, and an attempt to get out of my own head," violinist Tim Fain writes. "I composed and recorded it for 17 layered and looped violins, and really wanted to explore the limits of pitch and intensity on the violin." An Avery Fisher Career Grant-winning violinist and composer, Tim Fain can also be heard on the soundtracks to films including Black Swan, The Tragedy of Macbeth, 12 Years a Slave, and Don’t Look Up. On this album, Fain performs his own composition, "Unraveling," alongside works by John Corigliano ("STOMP), Esa-Pekka Salonen ("Lachen Verlernt"), Missy Mazzoli ("Dissolve, O My Heartz"), Meredith Monk (Return to Earth, arr. Tim Fain - premiere recording), Philip Glass ("Two Poems"), and Bryce Dessner ("Ornament and Crime"). BELOW: Official music video for Tim Fain's "Unraveling."

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U.S. Immigration Drops Utah Violinist’s Deportation case

Laurie Niles

October 10, 2025, 1:36 PM · On Wednesday U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) dropped its deportation case against Utah violinist John Shin, who had been detained at an ICE detention camp in Aurora, Colo. for 17 days in late August and early September.

"That means John is not in deportation proceedings anymore," his South Salt Lake attorney Adam Crayk told the Denver Gazette. "We won entirely. He’s out."

Shin is a violinist with a master’s degree in music performance from the University of Utah and has performed with the Utah Symphony and Ballet West.

Shin was working on a telecommunications project at Fort Carson, Colo. when he was flagged by federal officials as he tried to enter the U.S. Army base near Colorado Springs, due to discrepancies in federal records related to his migratory status. Agents placed shackles on both Shin's wrists and ankles and drove him 70 miles to the ICE detention camp in Aurora, where he was housed in block with 70-80 people and slept with no pillow on yoga mats over a metal frame for the next two and a half weeks.

"I was absolutely terrified. I cried all day," Shin said at a press conference following his release. "When you are inside the detention center you have no information coming from outside. I was in constant panic. Every night I wasn't sure what was going to happen tomorrow or the following day."

Shin was required to post a $25,000 bond and to wear an ankle monitor in order to be released from the Colorado detention center and return to his family in Salt Lake City on Sept. 4.
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