Peter Purich Part 2

Conversations with Musicians, with Leah Roseman

09/24/22

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68m

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Peter Purich is an innovative violin maker known for his unique personalized chin rest design. He’s also a multi-instrumentalist who plays in many different styles, and a dedicated violin and viola pedagogue. Because this conversation was extra-long it has been divided into two episodes. Part 2 continues with a lot of specifics about playing and teaching the violin, and he describes some of his innovative instrument designs, his unique shoulder support, and some great wisdom. If you missed Part 1, it delves into his development as an instrument maker and innovator, and as a creative musician. He describes some of his innovations with chin rest design and the episode ends with some improvisation and some great parenting advice! I have added timestamps in the description, and like all these episodes this is available both as a podcast and a video, the link is in the description and the transcript will be published to the same link, where you can also find Part 1: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/peter-purich

Support this series and get access to unique perks! https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman

(00:00) Intro

(01:06) violin and viola pedagogy: bow arm, using imagery, Peter’s devices to help students

(10:43) archery

(14:08) concepts in teaching bowing technique for violin and viola, Galamian

(29:45) Peter’s instruments and instrument innovations

(38:62) shoulder rests, how to hold a violin, Peter’s invention Senza Rest

(52:06) freedom of expression

(53:08) perspectives on orchestra players

(56:46) Peter’s creative process in building and playing

Previous Episode

Peter Purich Part 1: Luthier, Innovator, Multi-Instrumentalist, Educator

September 17, 2022

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75m

Peter Purich is an innovative violin maker known for his unique personalized chinrest design. He’s also a multi-instrumentalist who plays in many different styles, and a dedicated violin and viola pedagogue. Because this conversation was extra-long it has been divided into two episodes. Part 1 delves into his development as an instrument maker and innovator, and as a creative musician. He shows and describes some of his innovations with chinrest design. The episode ends with some improvisation and some great parenting advice! Part 2 will continue with a lot of specifics about playing and teaching the violin, and he shows some of his inventive instrument designs, his unique shoulder support, and some great wisdom.

I have added timestamps below, and like all these episodes this is available both as a podcast and a video, and the transcript will be published to this same link: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/peter-purich

Please support this podcast: https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman

Timestamps

(00:00) Intro

(01:29) Peter’s father and his start making instruments and bows

(06:12) Peter’s trip to Europe, Vienna Philharmonic instruments

(10:17) different kinds of woods, styles of violin bows

(13:44) research on carbon fiber

(19:25) Peter’s custom-made chin rests, vibrato, shifting, how to hold a violin

(46:34) Peter’s pedagogy

(49:30) Peter’s approach to improvisation and experiences with different styles and instruments

(51:30) I Musici chamber orchestra in Montreal, Yuli Turovsky

(54:30) Arthur Garami

(56:27) Gerald Stanick

(57:44) why it’s good to improvise with demonstrations

(01:09:36) teaching students improvisation

(01:11:59) parenting and Peter’s great advice

Next Episode

Hristina Beleva: Gadulka player

October 1, 2022

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34m

This episode features the wonderful Bulgarian gadulka player Hristina Beleva, and this project would not have been possible without the generous translation and voice-overs from fellow musician Milena Krassi. Milena was with us during the interview and it’s mostly her voice that you’ll be hearing. Hristina is a virtuoso of the traditional bowed instrument of Bulgaria, the gadulka, which looks a bit like an upside-down violin, with usually 3 main strings and several resonating strings, up to 16. Hristina performs as a soloist with the Ensemble Philip Koutev Folk Orchestra of the Bulgarian National Radio, the Mystery of the Bulgarian Voices, Bulgara, the Milanov-Beleva duo, and is featured on the 2019 Grammy nominated album with David Kuckhermann and Lisa Gerrard, “Hiraeth”. Hristina recently released a wonderful duo album with bass player Vasil Hajigrudev, “Trikop”. This episode features lots of music, and we talk about both traditional music and her fusion collaborations.

The video version of this episode is here: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/hristina-beleva-gadulka-player

Support this series! https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman

Timestamps:

(00:00) Intro

(01:38) gadulka performance: Ruchenitsa traditional Bulgarian folk dance

( 03:11) - " Hubava si Moia Goro" You are Beautiful My Forest" - old Bulgarian song

( 03:25) introduction to the instrument and the modal tradition

( 09:12) Hristina’s fusion projects and collaborations: Vasil Hajigrudev, Peter Milanov, Mystery of the Bulgarian Voices, David Kuckhermann and Lisa Gerrard (15:32) “Melancholy Beauty” by Georgy Andreev story of the rescue of the Bulgarian Jews during the Holocaust

(17:29) experience during pandemic lockdowns

(19:32) gadulka performance

(20:42) traditional dances of Bulgaria

(22:05) traditional folklore orchestra of ensemble Philip Koutev

(24:20) demonstration with improvisations of different musical modes

(27:16) comparison of different instruments and traditions

( 28:06) Hristina’s development as a musician

photo credit: Ivelina Milanova