British-born violinist Freya Creech just marked her one-year anniversary in Tucson.
It was a year ago January that she and her American-born husband Logan Richardson took a giant leap of faith and uprooted themselves from Germany, their home of eight years, for Tucson.
“It was a pretty huge adjustment arriving off the plane from Europe into the desert, but I love it here,” Creech said in an interview about her lead role in the next installment of Dove of Peace Lutheran Church’s Beethoven Festival on Sunday, March 8. “I moved to Tucson because my husband, whom I met in Germany, was offered a job at the UA in the Optical Sciences department, so we decided to take a risk, just go for it and make the move.”
In the year she’s been here, Creech, 28, has immersed herself in Tucson’s classical music scene, including performing with several local groups. But on Sunday, March 8, she will perform her first violin-piano recital here.
She joins an all-female lineup — Tucson Symphony Orchestra principal horn player Johanna Lundy and pianist Elena Miraztchiyska — for the final installment of Dove of Peace’s 10-year long Beethoven Sonata Project. She will perform Beethoven’s Kreutzer Sonata, a piece that has been on Creech’s radar since she first picked up the violin.
In our email interview, Creech talked about the Kreutzer and her life in Tucson.
On finding her musical voice in Tucson: “I’ve been performing pretty much since I arrived. I am a member of True Concord (Voices & Orchestra), play regularly with TSO and Arizona Opera, can often be heard playing at St. Philip’s in the Hills, Dove of Peace Concert Series and other music venues and events around town. I have particularly enjoyed presenting the music from my recently released album in solo concerts, both in Tucson and down in Tubac, and also joining the St. Andrew’s Bach Society for the ‘Mendelssohn Project’ last June. I also have plans in the works for future concerts that I hope to self-present here.”
On tackling Beethoven’s Kreutzer Sonata: “I have lived through a lot with this piece, and it has followed me across the world! I wanted to play it since I was very young, and as a student at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, I finally had the courage to ask my professor if I might learn it. To my surprise — and terror! — she said yes, and I ended up performing it for my final recital in Salzburg just before moving to the U.S. Learning this piece was more difficult than I could have imagined, and more demanding on the players than anything I have ever played before or since. I feel like I need to train in the gym for weeks leading up to any performance, to have the stamina that the piece requires! I guess I can understand now why the violinist to whom Beethoven dedicated the sonata, Rodolphe Kreutzer, refused to play it because of its difficulty. It is a long sonata, about 45 minutes in total, and the technical challenges really never let up, from the grand solo violin entrance to the very last flourishes of the final movement. As always with Beethoven, he is extremely particular with his markings, and I think keeping up with these, the often very quick changes in mood and character and all the while making it seem effortless and sound beautiful is what is so tough with this music, but what can also be so rewarding if you manage it.”
They say it’s a desert, but not when it comes to culture: “I have been so wonderfully surprised by how busy and rich the cultural scene is here in Tucson. There really is a lot going on, and so many fantastic and talented people who are doing interesting things.”
Outside of music: “Getting to know Tucson as a city and discovering its little gems and haunts has been a real adventure. I love trying out new taco spots, catching a movie at The Loft or sampling the beers at Casa Video. Hiking has also become a real love of mine, and if I have any spare time I always try and plan a day’s hike on any of the numerous and breathtakingly beautiful trails.”
What she’d like you to know about her before you see her concert: “I feel humbled by the music that I get to play, and honored to be able to share my interpretation of it with anyone who wants to hear it. The Kreutzer Sonata will never NOT be a thrill for me to play. I have imagined so many ideas into this piece of music. I love it so deeply and in this concert will put my whole heart into every note.”
