Shari Mason will synergize with the OFJ
For the first concert of the Third Season 2022 of the Jalisco Philharmonic Orchestra (OFJ), the group will have a special guest, as the soloist of the night will be the Mexican violinist Shari Mason, who will perform for the first time at the Degollado Theater and will play with the ensemble today, Thursday, October 6 and Sunday, October 9, at 8:30 p.m. and 12:30 p.m., respectively.
In an interview with EL INFORMADOR, the instrumentalist born in Mexico City said that her first contact with music was due to “my mom. She was studying piano and I started playing the instrument when I was a child; I don't think my mother's idea was that we become professional musicians, but rather our development as human beings, because she knew the experiences that music provides. I am lucky for that."
Outlook and wins
Mason states that he went when he was nine years old and “at that moment I decided that I would be a violinist; my formal study began there, my teacher was of Russian origin, Natalia Gvozdetskaya, and I learned about the seriousness, dedication and discipline that the instrument requires”; Now, the violinist finished her career at two universities, at the UNAM School of Music and, later, at the Ollin Yoliztli, later she did a master's degree in Indiana (United States), where she studied with maestro Kowalski, who "gave me a different perspective." The instrumentalist highlights that "the first time I played as a soloist with a professional orchestra" was after participating in a competition to play at OFUNAM, organized by the National School of Music, "where all the instruments were involved and the institution's staff of jury; I was not so interested in winning as being heard, and they listened to me: I won”.
Concert and confirmation
Now he will play Prokofiev, a concerto that “was the first that I worked with my teacher in Indiana”, comments Mason: “My encounter with the piece was curious; I didn't know him and in my first semester, in an end-of-the-year break where I had several exams to prepare, I signed up for the last schedule, but who would be my teacher made me rehearse the Prokofiev concerto to have it ready in three weeks, And I memorized it in two days. That work process was hard, and I didn't win, but they listened to me, and I hadn't fallen in love with a work before; Every time I play it I feel better and I feel like I'm a different violinist, that I have different experiences every time”.
Happy to be in the city, in the process of rehearsing, “it's great to feel how you give, and the orchestra gives, and a very nice feedback occurs; It is the first time that I work with and listen to this orchestra. First time in this theater, but it helps that with José Luis I have done this concert a couple of times, and I am sure it will be a special event. I had heard very good things about this orchestra and now I confirm them, and I feel happy about it”.