Visiting UCLA professor Lorenz Gamma has crafted his career as a professional violinist through variation. He has performed various types of classical works solo, in small ensembles and in large symphonies, and has ventured into the worlds of Mexican and Cambodian music in the recording studio.
Tonight, however, he focuses on chamber music, with four violin-and-piano pieces and one solo violin piece. But even in this realm, Gamma expands the breadth of the music by including a work from Bach in the early 18th century, compositions of the impressionist composers Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel, and a piece written in 2003 by UCLA professor emeritus Henri Lazarof.
“Nowadays there are a lot programs that in my opinion play too much of the same (types of music),” Gamma said. “But I think it’s always better to span through the centuries, but while still thinking about it. You can’t make a big jumble of it and there you go. It’s a little like making a meal, a good five-course meal.”
Because they come from different time periods and from men with different backgrounds, each work conveys its own particular mood and style, adding to the diversity within the performance.
“They are very different,” Gamma said. “The one thing that connects them all is that they’re all brilliantly written. There’s no shallow music, they’re all really truly great pieces.”
As its name suggests, chamber music is meant to be performed by small ensembles of musicians in intimate settings. The ensembles typically range from three to eight members, each performer playing a unique part with few, if any, solos.
Monday’s performance, however, will feature a smaller and rarer form of chamber music with only Gamma and pianist Ming Tsu sharing the spotlight.
“All four works which use (both instruments) are written in perfect democracy between violin and piano,” Gamma said. “There are many works written for violin which are more show-works and the piano is more of an accompaniment … but these pieces can actually be considered chamber music in a mini form as well, if the two instruments are as equal as they are in these four works.”
Gamma first picked up the violin at age 5 while living in Switzerland. After establishing a solid foundation in the basics of musicianship, he continued his studies in the United States.
As a professional performer, Gamma has involved himself heavily in chamber music specifically, serving as concertmaster of the Northwest Sinfonietta in Seattle and as principal of the Zurich Opera Orchestra, and touring internationally with various ensembles. Gamma currently holds a seat in the Southwest Chamber Music ensemble in which Ming Tsu also performs.
Through these endeavors, Gamma has polished and personalized his skill with and intuition about classical music.
“I try to walk that fine line between being an involved performer and then overpowering the character that’s in the work with my own persona,” Gamma said. “That’s something we always have to ask ourselves: How far do we go between the two of them? I’m trying to walk sort of just in between.”
For the past two years, Gamma has served as a visiting professor and personal violin teacher at UCLA, where he also earned his doctorate. He currently coaches 15 violin players on their craft, helping them find their specific direction in the world of violin playing.
“I learn from students how to be flexible,” Gamma said. “Just when I thought I knew a piece very well and I know exactly how a certain aspect of it should be looked at, then one of my very talented students comes and plays it in a totally different way and makes me think for a while and rethink my own decisions too.”
This flexibility within Gamma’s teaching style reflects his ethos as a performer, one which equally embraces both variety and proficiency.
“I think what appeals to me most about playing in general is the diversity of the art of music which I try to show a little of in this program,” Gamma said. “It’s endless ““ the music world is as large and varied as the world itself.”