United in isolation, northern violinists team up for cross-country collaboration

A trio of young northern violinists recently joined their contemporaries across Canada for a project that aims to bring people together through music — while being apart.

"United in Isolation" is the brainchild of cousins Sebastian Tsai, based in Montreal, and Kai Chow, based in Vancouver. The pair came up with the idea while thinking of a way to "unite Canadians around a common goal, which is beating COVID[-19]," said Tsai.

The result: a 40-instrument rendition of Johann Sebastian Bach's Violin Concerto, second movement, which includes participants as young as 11 years old from every province and territory.

Violinists phase in and out of the video, each playing short pieces of the song, which Tsai and Chow edited together after the fact.

Watch the group in action:

"I was so excited to just be invited," said Alice Twa, the N.W.T.'s representative. "We don't really have a reason to practise, and just keep playing [with social restrictions]. So it was a good opportunity to challenge myself."

Twa was joined by Whitehorse's Micah Taggart-Cox and Iqaluit's Aura Kwon to form the territorial representation. All three were suggested to Tsai and Chow through mutual contacts in the music scene.

"I thought it would be really cool to be a part of something all of Canada would be able to see, and represent the Yukon," said Taggart-Cox. 

"It was really, really cool. I was really impressed with how they put it together."

Kwon, 13, began playing violin 10 years ago in Saskatchewan. She was suggested to take part in the project by Gina Burgess, the violinist for the Jerry Cans. 

"I was very excited," said Kwon. "I had never participated in a project like this ... I thought it was very nice. It was a good way of showing what teenagers can do during quarantine."

Every young musician in the project was provided a snippet of the song by Tsai and Chow, along with a click track — a metronome-like recording to help keep the beat. They then had to record their contribution and send it back to the pair, who faced the daunting task of editing it together.

Tsai estimated that the process took about five hours a day, for a week and a half; a commitment he was more than happy to make. 

"Having a project like this, especially because of the editing process, it gave me something to look forward to," Tsai said. "I would say it really gave me motivation to get up in the morning."

'It gave me a reason to keep fiddling'

Recording their tracks for the project wasn't without challenges, either. N.W.T.'s Twa, who usually plays fiddle music, said that it took practice to learn her part.

"I had to spend some days just practising it, even though it was just four or five bars. It was really complicated."

Yukon's Taggart-Cox plays fiddle music as well, but said that for him, keeping on time was the biggest hurdle. 

Despite the logistical issues, all three northern violinists say they're very happy with the final project.

"In the end, each person's musical interpretation came through," said Taggart-Cox. "It was almost inspiring to see people from all over Canada playing together with me, sort of, but at the same time, not."

"When you're just filming your little video you don't realize how you fit into the whole picture," Twa said. "But to see everyone on the screen, it was just super cool ... It gave me a reason to keep fiddling."

For Nunavut's Kwon, she's hoping the video can help inspire others to take up an instrument while living through the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Music is very fun to learn and it has good results for everybody who tries it. So go out and learn music!"