Afes for solo violin

Join me for the full premiere of AFES for solo violin, performed by violinist Gabriela Diaz on the Arthur Berger Memorial Concert, Jordan Hall, Boston, MA. More info here.

About the Work

The work Afes, Greek for touches, explores particularly fine and fragile timbral gradations that result from different nuances of touch. Throughout the work, aspects of the instrument’s tactility that are usually submerged in the normal mode of playing are given protagonistic roles: the sounds of the left hand against the fingerboard, nuances of different pressure, and the drawing of the bow hair and stick against different parts of the instrument’s body are ever-present. In this respect, Afes reverses the normal hierarchies of violin sound production, highlighting esoteric aspects of the physicality of playing and inventing a new mode of viscerality in engaging with the instrument.

Afes is dedicated to the Greek violinist and composer Tania Sikelianou, who commissioned the work.         

                                                 – Stratis Minakakis