O'Connor to Kick Off Performing Arts Series

While most music stores won't place an artist's work under more than one genre title, it's hard to find the right place for the versatile violinist and composer who will kickoff the 2001-02 Performing Arts Series 8 p.m. today in Memorial Hall.

O'Connor's credentials read like a who's who list of country, classical, Christian, jazz and folk music performers and seem to defy categorization.

"Rather than exclusive to one category, I really would rather have an all-inclusive kind of approach, which means possibly no category or filing it under O, under my name," he said.

And at tonight's performance, listeners will have a chance to experience the wide range of O'Connor's talents.

The performance will feature "The American Seasons," a stylistically diverse concerto accompanied by the Metamorphosen Chamber Orchestra. Tickets for the show are still available at the Carolina Union Box Office.

The concerto was inspired by Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" and William Shakespeare's "The Seasons of Man" from the play "As You Like It," O'Connor said.

His four-movement piece uses musical interpretations of spring, summer, fall and winter to guide listeners through birth, youth, adulthood and old age.

"`The American Seasons', in fact, really is a celebration of American life," he said. "It's a little bit autobiographical, at least through the first three movements. I sort of have to project through the old age part."

The concerto also reflects an element of fantasy, he said.

"I actually create through the whole piece what I call this life being," O'Connor said. "By the fourth movement, the character adopts this ancestral theme, which in my case is my Irish roots. So you'll hear reels and jigs creep into the mix near the end."

And true to the 40-year-old musician's varied background, listeners can expect even more stylistic surprises throughout the performance, including infusions of swing and blues.

Raised in Seattle, Wash., O'Connor has been a professional musician since age 17. He began his musical career under the tutelage of Texas fiddler Benny Thomasson and French jazz violinist Stephane Grappelli.

After almost 10 years as a Nashville session musician in the 1980s, he embarked on a solo career that included collaborations with performers ranging from James Taylor to Charlie Daniels to Yo-Yo Ma.

O'Connor earned Grammy awards in 1991 and 2000 for The New Nashville Cats, a instrumental country album, and Appalachian Journey, a collaborative work with Ma and bassist Edgar Meyer.

While his career has been heading increasingly toward contemporary classical music, O'Connor's unique sound remains distinctly American.

"It's an amalgamation of folk, jazz and classical, which represents the very training I had when I was as child," he said.

But for O'Connor, his musical career is about explores styles outside his roots.

"If I wanted to be making a bunch of money, I guess I'd still be making country albums or what would be termed more country-type albums," he said. "But I wanted to search my heart and go on this musical journey and take risks artistically to better discover the essence of my talents and the essence of my environment."

"As an artist and historically speaking, I think that's what I'll be remembered for."

The Arts & Entertainment Editor can be reached at artsdesk@unc.edu.