American Composer Mark O'Connor

Last week I had the great opportunity to check out one of my all-time favorite musicians in concert - Mark O'Connor. Truly a musical genius. Early in his career he focused mostly on guitar oriented music and then switched to violin. He's won the highest awards for technical mastery of both instruments and has recorded with some of the worlds most prominent artists such as Renee Fleming, Yo Yo Ma, Johnny Cash, Nadja Solerno Sonenberg, Bela Fleck, and the list goes on. I actually saw him perform two nights back-to-back and then attended his master class at a nearby university. His first performance was a solo violin recital featuring his American Classical repertoire, traditional fiddle tunes, ragtime, jazz and his amazing caprices. A stunning performance. The next night featured his Poets & Prophets concierto (his homage to Johnny Cash) with a piano/cello trio. Each night he also performed his Appalachia Waltz which he said was his definitive composition.

I'd heard from guitarist/mandolin giant, and dear friend, Kelly Wayne Lancaster that he no longer played guitar due to a hand injury some years ago. During his master class I actually had a chance to ask him about his guitar playing. He confirmed this saying he hadn't played guitar in 10 years due to the injury. Such a shame. He actually won the National Guitar Competition 3 times before the age of 20.