Meet the WAMMERS - Jack Chenoweth
An original perspective
To the casual observer, or anxious parent, Jack Chenoweth’s first violin lesson held little promise. ‘I had my back turned to the teacher the whole time, and fiddled and fidgeted right through.’ Much to the surprise of his mother, then five-year-old Jack later gave a full account of the lesson; detailing everything he had seen and learnt. Not so inauspicious after all.
Jack recalls the first time he ever got an emotional ‘kick’ from listening to music. ‘It was Beethoven’s violin concerto. There was a modulation in one of the first tutti sections that just got me.’ Pretty mature stuff for a kid. Jack’s musical aptitude carried him through tertiary studies and a couple of years at the Australian National Academy of Music in Melbourne. Along the way, he’s relished opportunities to play with, and study from, some of Australia’s greats. ‘Working with Geoffrey Lancaster was a real highlight. I so admire his phenomenal technique, his intellect and understanding of the music, and above all his musicianship; the way his personality and sense of humour just pour out of him.’
One of Jack’s favourite quotes, told him by former teacher Barbara Jane Gilby, is that ‘music should never be harmless’. Rather than listening to yet another carbon-copy performance of Beethoven’s violin concerto, Jack would much rather listen to artists who have the courage to find their own voice: barefoot violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja or Finnish classical and jazz violinist Pekka Kuusisto, for instance. ‘They are always themselves, never falling prey to safe, predictable or bland playing.’
So why the change in direction for Jack in joining Words About Music? ‘I want to extend a part of my musical self. I’m curious to see what other avenues this might open up for me.’ You can be sure his will be an original voice in this world of words.
Written by Genevieve Lang
WAM tutor
