Dylana Jenson
Encyclopedia
Dylana Jenson is an American concert violinist and violin teacher. She was, until recently, Distinguished Professor of Music at Grand Valley State University
in Grand Rapids, Michigan
, and lives in that city with her husband, the conductor-cellist David Lockington
, conductor of the Grand Rapids Symphony. They have four children. Jenson is the sister of Vicky Jenson, a well-known animated film story board artist and director.
. She studied violin with her mother beginning at age two and ten months. She then studied with the prominent violin teacher Manuel Compinsky, the internationally renowned concert violinist Nathan Milstein
and the preeminent violin pedagogue Josef Gingold
. She made her debut at age eight, playing the Mendelssohn
Violin Concerto. At age eleven, she performed the Tchaikovsky
Violin Concerto
with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. By age thirteen, she had performed with many of the leading orchestras in the U.S., including the New York Philharmonic
in Avery Fisher Hall
(Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts), and the Los Angeles Symphony. She toured Europe, Latin America and the Soviet Union. In 1978, at age seventeen and already a seasoned concert performer, she shared the silver medal in the International Tchaikovsky competition in Moscow.
concert debut playing the Sibelius
Violin Concerto
with the Philadelphia Orchestra
under the direction of Eugene Ormandy
. The performance was received with great acclaim. In 1981, she recorded the Sibelius Violin Concerto and the Saint-Saëns
Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso with Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra. That recording is still regarded as one of the finest on disc. The venerable music critic Edward Downes stated in an interview on New York City classical music station WQXR that Jenson was a "mature master" and that the recording "...is unsurpassed since Heifetz".
Before her marriage, Jenson had the long-term loan from a wealthy violin collector of a 1743 Guarnerius del Gesu violin, the instrument with which she made the Sibelius recording. When she announced to her benefactor that she was to marry, she was given a short time in which to return the instrument because, he told her, if she was to marry she was not serious about a career as a concert performer. Eventually, however, Yo Yo Ma, the preeminent cellist of his era, referred her to Samuel Zygmuntowicz
, a contemporary master violin maker in Brooklyn, NY, who has made sound-alike copies of great antique Stradivarius and Guarnerius violins for such violin superstars as Isaac Stern
and Joshua Bell
. In 1995 Jenson commissioned a violin from Zygmuntowicz based on a Guarnerius del Gesu model. This was the instrument used in the recorded Carnegie Hall concert and the Shostakovitch/Barber CD recording (see Discography).
In addition to her teaching career, Jenson has continued her performance career, albeit with a less heavy schedule than the most famous concert artists and usually with regional rather than top-ranked orchestras. She often performs with the Grand Rapids Symphony under the direction of her husband. These performances have included, in 2005, a triumphant return to Carnegie Hall. One critic, Harris Goldsmith of the New York Concert Review, said of this performance: "In Jenson’s hands, even lyrical passages had an intense, tremulous quality... a sizzling performance. I can give no higher praise than to say that her excellent performance brought to mind, and was a loving tribute to, the great Nathan Milstein... who was one of Jenson’s mentors."
Jenson has also appeared in the past few years with the Baltimore Symphony, the Santa Barbara Symphony, Indian Hill Orchestra (Littleton, MA), the Louisiana Philharmonic, the New Mexico Symphony, and at the Berkshire, Eastern, and other famous music festivals. She has made tours of Australia and Japan and was made an Honorary Citizen at the age of 12 for her contributions to music in Costa Rica. Jenson plays recitals as well as concerts.
Violin Sonata No. 1 and 3 in with pianist Samuel Sanders on the RCA label. The 2005 Carnegie Hall performance was recorded in its entirety and published by the Grand Rapids Symphony; it includes Jenson performing the Goldmark
Violin Concerto No. 1
. In 2008 Jenson recorded the Shostakovich 1st Violin Concerto and the Samuel Barber Violin Concerto with the London Symphony Orchestra, played on the Zygmuntowicz violin.
Grand Valley State University
Grand Valley State University is a public liberal arts university located in Allendale, Michigan, United States. The university was established in 1960, and its main campus is situated on approximately west of Grand Rapids...
in Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city is located on the Grand River about 40 miles east of Lake Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 188,040. In 2010, the Grand Rapids metropolitan area had a population of 774,160 and a combined statistical area, Grand...
, and lives in that city with her husband, the conductor-cellist David Lockington
David Lockington
David Lockington is currently the music director of the Grand Rapids Symphony, a regional orchestra located in Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S.. Lockington assumed this position in January 1999...
, conductor of the Grand Rapids Symphony. They have four children. Jenson is the sister of Vicky Jenson, a well-known animated film story board artist and director.
Child prodigy
Dylana Jenson was a child prodigyChild prodigy
A child prodigy is someone who, at an early age, masters one or more skills far beyond his or her level of maturity. One criterion for classifying prodigies is: a prodigy is a child, typically younger than 18 years old, who is performing at the level of a highly trained adult in a very demanding...
. She studied violin with her mother beginning at age two and ten months. She then studied with the prominent violin teacher Manuel Compinsky, the internationally renowned concert violinist Nathan Milstein
Nathan Milstein
Nathan Mironovich Milstein was a Russian-born American virtuoso violinist.Widely considered one of the finest violinists of the 20th century, Milstein was known for his interpretations of Bach's solo violin works and for works from the Romantic period...
and the preeminent violin pedagogue Josef Gingold
Josef Gingold
Josef Gingold was a Russian-Jewish-born classical violinist and teacher, who lived most of his life in the United States...
. She made her debut at age eight, playing the Mendelssohn
Mendelssohn
Mendelson is a Polish/German Jewish family name, meaning "son of Mendel", Mendel being a Yiddish diminutive of the Hebrew given name Menahem, meaning "consoling" or "one who consoles".Mendelssohn is the surname of a number of people:...
Violin Concerto. At age eleven, she performed the Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian: Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вский ; often "Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky" in English. His names are also transliterated "Piotr" or "Petr"; "Ilitsch", "Il'ich" or "Illyich"; and "Tschaikowski", "Tschaikowsky", "Chajkovskij"...
Violin Concerto
Violin Concerto (Tchaikovsky)
The Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35, written by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1878, is one of the best known of all violin concertos. It is also considered to be among the most technically difficult works for violin.-Instrumentation:...
with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. By age thirteen, she had performed with many of the leading orchestras in the U.S., including the New York Philharmonic
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...
in Avery Fisher Hall
Avery Fisher Hall
Avery Fisher Hall is a concert hall, in New York City and is part of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts complex. It is the home of the New York Philharmonic, with a capacity of 2,738 seats.-History:...
(Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts), and the Los Angeles Symphony. She toured Europe, Latin America and the Soviet Union. In 1978, at age seventeen and already a seasoned concert performer, she shared the silver medal in the International Tchaikovsky competition in Moscow.
Later career
Jenson made her Carnegie HallCarnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
concert debut playing the Sibelius
Jean Sibelius
Jean Sibelius was a Finnish composer of the later Romantic period whose music played an important role in the formation of the Finnish national identity. His mastery of the orchestra has been described as "prodigious."...
Violin Concerto
Violin Concerto (Sibelius)
The Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47, was written by Jean Sibelius in 1904.-History:Sibelius originally dedicated the concerto to the noted violinist Willy Burmester, who promised to play the concerto in Berlin...
with the Philadelphia Orchestra
Philadelphia Orchestra
The Philadelphia Orchestra is a symphony orchestra based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. One of the "Big Five" American orchestras, it was founded in 1900...
under the direction of Eugene Ormandy
Eugene Ormandy
Eugene Ormandy was a Hungarian-born conductor and violinist.-Early life:Born Jenő Blau in Budapest, Hungary, Ormandy began studying violin at the Royal National Hungarian Academy of Music at the age of five...
. The performance was received with great acclaim. In 1981, she recorded the Sibelius Violin Concerto and the Saint-Saëns
Camille Saint-Saëns
Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns was a French Late-Romantic composer, organist, conductor, and pianist. He is known especially for The Carnival of the Animals, Danse macabre, Samson and Delilah, Piano Concerto No. 2, Cello Concerto No. 1, Havanaise, Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, and his Symphony...
Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso with Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra. That recording is still regarded as one of the finest on disc. The venerable music critic Edward Downes stated in an interview on New York City classical music station WQXR that Jenson was a "mature master" and that the recording "...is unsurpassed since Heifetz".
Before her marriage, Jenson had the long-term loan from a wealthy violin collector of a 1743 Guarnerius del Gesu violin, the instrument with which she made the Sibelius recording. When she announced to her benefactor that she was to marry, she was given a short time in which to return the instrument because, he told her, if she was to marry she was not serious about a career as a concert performer. Eventually, however, Yo Yo Ma, the preeminent cellist of his era, referred her to Samuel Zygmuntowicz
Samuel Zygmuntowicz
Samuel Zygmuntowicz is a contemporary luthier. He began his instrument making training when he was thirteen years old and studied making and restoration under Peter Prier, Carl Becker and Rene Morel....
, a contemporary master violin maker in Brooklyn, NY, who has made sound-alike copies of great antique Stradivarius and Guarnerius violins for such violin superstars as Isaac Stern
Isaac Stern
Isaac Stern was a Ukrainian-born violinist. He was renowned for his recordings and for discovering new musical talent.-Biography:Isaac Stern was born into a Jewish family in Kremenets, Ukraine. He was fourteen months old when his family moved to San Francisco...
and Joshua Bell
Joshua Bell
Joshua David Bell is an American Grammy Award-winning violinist.-Childhood:Bell was born in Bloomington, Indiana, United States, the son of a psychologist and a therapist. Bell's father is the late Alan P...
. In 1995 Jenson commissioned a violin from Zygmuntowicz based on a Guarnerius del Gesu model. This was the instrument used in the recorded Carnegie Hall concert and the Shostakovitch/Barber CD recording (see Discography).
In addition to her teaching career, Jenson has continued her performance career, albeit with a less heavy schedule than the most famous concert artists and usually with regional rather than top-ranked orchestras. She often performs with the Grand Rapids Symphony under the direction of her husband. These performances have included, in 2005, a triumphant return to Carnegie Hall. One critic, Harris Goldsmith of the New York Concert Review, said of this performance: "In Jenson’s hands, even lyrical passages had an intense, tremulous quality... a sizzling performance. I can give no higher praise than to say that her excellent performance brought to mind, and was a loving tribute to, the great Nathan Milstein... who was one of Jenson’s mentors."
Jenson has also appeared in the past few years with the Baltimore Symphony, the Santa Barbara Symphony, Indian Hill Orchestra (Littleton, MA), the Louisiana Philharmonic, the New Mexico Symphony, and at the Berkshire, Eastern, and other famous music festivals. She has made tours of Australia and Japan and was made an Honorary Citizen at the age of 12 for her contributions to music in Costa Rica. Jenson plays recitals as well as concerts.
Discography
Following her 1978 Tchaikovsky Competition medal, a live performance of the Sibelius Violin Concerto was released on the Soviet Melodiya label. The 1981 recording of the Sibelius Violin Concerto was RCA's first major classical music production recorded in digital sound. This recording received a Grammy nomination for 1982. It has been reissued on a customer order basis by Arkivmusic.com as part of its historical reissue series. Jenson in 1982 recorded the BrahmsJohannes Brahms
Johannes Brahms was a German composer and pianist, and one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene...
Violin Sonata No. 1 and 3 in with pianist Samuel Sanders on the RCA label. The 2005 Carnegie Hall performance was recorded in its entirety and published by the Grand Rapids Symphony; it includes Jenson performing the Goldmark
Karl Goldmark
Karl Goldmark, also known originally as Károly Goldmark and later sometimes as Carl Goldmark; May 18, 1830, Keszthely – January 2, 1915, Vienna) was a Hungarian composer.- Life and career :...
Violin Concerto No. 1
Violin Concerto No. 1 (Goldmark)
The Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op.28 by Karl Goldmark was composed in 1877 and premiered in Bremen the same year. It consists of three movements:# Allegro moderato# Andante# Moderato - Allegretto...
. In 2008 Jenson recorded the Shostakovich 1st Violin Concerto and the Samuel Barber Violin Concerto with the London Symphony Orchestra, played on the Zygmuntowicz violin.