It took violinist Lauren Roth a season to get comfortable in Tucson and to acclimate herself from the lush green of her native Seattle, Washington, to the scorched desert brown of her new home here.
“It was a shock, but less now and I’m appreciating it a little more,” the Tucson Symphony Orchestra concertmaster said last week. “I go home and really soak in the green in Seattle, but I’m enjoying (Tucson). Now that we’ve made it through the summer it’s a little more enjoyable.”
Roth, 27, came to the TSO last season from Canton, Ohio, where she was concertmaster of the Canton Symphony. She kicked off her second Tucson season last month in a concert that gave her a chance to shine in the solo passages of Copland’s Symphony No. 3.
It was a nice hint of what we can expect this weekend when Roth makes her concerto debut with the TSO performing Gian Carlo Menotti’s lesser-known 1952 Concerto for Violin and Orchestra. It will be a first for the TSO, which has never performed the Menotti or Barber’s waltz piece “Souvenirs” that opens this weekend’s MasterWorks concerts.
We caught up with Roth to talk about the piece and how she’s finding her way in the Old Pueblo.
Bio file: In addition to the Canton Symphony, Roth, who earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington and her master’s from the Cleveland Institute of Music, played for several ensembles including the Cleveland Pops Orchestra, Seattle Philharmonic Orchestra and the Bremerton (Washington) Symphony. She also subbed with the Cleveland Orchestra. In addition to playing for the TSO, she is an assistant violin professor at the University of Arizona School of Music.
Hit play on her iPod and you’ll hear: “Any number of things. You might hear a Beyonce track, which is like my workout music, and you might also hear St. Matthew’s Passion.”
A birthday gift becomes a career: “I wanted lipstick, eye shadow and a violin. Three things I asked for from Santa Claus. My mom got me this kind of toy violin. It may have been real but whatever it was it was in unplayable condition when I got it and I was very upset. ... I sort of gave her (mother) an ultimatum as an almost 3-year-old and said I wanted a real violin on my third birthday and my first lesson on the same day. That gave her one month because my birthday is late January. … That story tells you a little bit about my personality and kind of consistent determination I’ve had my whole life.”
From the church steeple to all the people: Roth regularly performed in church growing up and also hosted living room concerts for anyone who would listen. “I would charge 10 cents a ticket. I would make up little tickets and put down whatever I was playing. ... I would collect my money and the torn-up paper tickets and perform for whoever was seated in the living room. It tended to be a two-person audience: mom and dad.”
A date with Michael Bublé: Roth turned down a chance to play in the backup band with the award-winning Canadian pop superstar. “I turned it down because I was already going (to the concert) on a date. It was funny to get asked to go to the concert from both sides of the stage.”
Introducing Tucson to Menotti: “The Menotti Violin Concerto is not well known. It’s unfortunate because I think it’s a great piece. ... I’m obviously practicing it like crazy now and getting it up to snuff and remembering some of the incredibly difficult passages and technical things that are in it. And yet, I don’t look at it as this monster bear that’s untamable. But it is taxing. It’s pretty note-y, although there are incredible melodies and operatic (passages).”
When she’s not at work, find her at … “I discovered this adorable restaurant on Fourth Avenue that I love to go to with my boyfriend. It’s called The Coronet. It’s cool and it’s very fun. If I’m out you can find me at The Coronet or at a Sonoran hot dog stand on Alvernon and Pima.”
