Julia Ogrydziak

Evening with Owls Fri, Nov 18

Julia — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 22:02:41 +0000

I will be performing solo violin at “Evening with Owls,” presented by the Hungry Owl Project on November 18.

It’s a semi-scored/semi-improvisational piece accompanying multi-media projections of owls, created by wildlife photographer Trish Carney (trishcarney.com). The evening will also feature lectures by Walter Crawford, Director of the World Bird Sanctuary, and Joe Mueller, Biology Instructor at the College of Marin.

Friday evening, November 18, 2011
6:00 pm – 9:30 pm, $75 per person (includes dinner and drinks)

Mill Valley Community Center
180 Camino Alto
Mill Valley, CA 94941

Go to Event Website »

The owl photos in this post are courtesy of Trish Carney. You can see more of her work at trishcarney.com.

Sunny days at Trails & Vistas

Julia — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 19:52:53 +0000

On the most perfect of late summer days up on the east side of Lake Tahoe, at a lake smaller than Tahoe, but no less beautiful, I had a great time performing with Capacitor at the Trails & Vistas Festival. To say the least, it was a one-of-a-kind performance venue, out in the wild, with trees, sky, and water, as the backdrop and foreground.

Close to 900 people came through to see our shows and enjoy the trails, and we really enjoyed bringing our art to Tahoe locals. Thanks to Nancy Lopez, the Executive Director of the Festival, for making it such a great weekend, and if you want to learn more, or just get a jump start on next year, visit www.trailsandvistas.org for more information.

Sumi-E (Japanese Brush Painting)

Julia — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 23:42:28 +0000

The process of Japanese brush painting appeals to me as a musician. It is a performance and a meditation. It combines years of learning: brush strokes, paper, feelings, spatial elements, nature, philosophy, and approach, with unmeditated spontanaiety. The resultant paintings are beautiful in their simplicity, yet powerful in their imagery.

I wanted to apply these same inner principles to a digital medium. Working with a digital camera, I sought to uncover hidden aspects of the everyday world around us. I wanted to create images which felt drawn or painted onto a canvas, rather than produced by light caught on film. I wanted to invoke a feeling of nature, not of artifice, and to create atmospheric pieces which evoke the inner self and the vitality and vigor of sumi-e painting.

The end result is a set of 6 photo prints mounted on canvas: 6 meditations.

2003, Series of 6 continuous color silver-halide photo prints

Trails & Vistas Festival

Julia — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 03:08:32 +0000

Join me at Spooner Lake in Lake Tahoe this weekend for an experential take on art and nature with the Trails & Vistas Festival. I will be playing violin with Capacitor Dance Group, and we will be performing excerpts from our upcoming show, Okeanos, set to premiere in San Francisco in February 2012.

About Trails & Vistas

Trails & Vistas is the most unique art experience in North Lake Tahoe. The next event will be on Saturday, September 17 and Sunday, September 18, 2011. You won’t want to miss the next magical Trails & Vistas art hike so mark your calendar today. Plan to participate in the region’s only art-hike. Experience live performances and installation art along a gentle, guided 2 1/2 mile hike during the region’s only art-hike. Experience the one-of-a-kind blending of art and nature with 30 fellow hikers during Trails and Vistas 2011 art hike at Spooner Lake in the Lake Tahoe-Nevada State Park.

» Learn more and get tickets

So dust off those hiking shoes and come to Tahoe to experience live performance in a stunning natural setting. Buy tickets early, as it sells out.

Julia goes electronic

Julia — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 03:05:57 +0000

Check out Julia’s latest video representing Keith McMillen Instruments as K-Bow Artist. This revolutionary project with KMI is an exciting reality of a totally new type of blue-tooth enabled violin bow which can track live performance metrics in real-time, meaning all kinds of cool new performance possibilities.

Show in a Show Aftermath

Julia — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 02:08:33 +0000

You can go home again! Davis (my hometown) was alive and buzzing Saturday night with a great turnout for my show with Bella Trio. I was amped to get to play for Maryvonne le Dizes, my violin teacher from my teenage years spent in Paris. Her attendance was truly a special treat. I also had a another former violin teacher and Davis native, Catherine Heusner, in attendance, so it was a real trip down memory lane.

I was honored to play some solo violin compositions by Pablo Ortiz, Professor of Composition at UC Davis during the show. And, my mom’s artwork and studio space were the absolute perfect compliment for the evening, providing a stunning show on their own.

Julia performing Pablo Ortiz’s Milongitas and a gallery of Maria Ogrydziak’s original watercolors.

Julia with Maryvonne le Dizes, her violin teacher from Paris.

BELLA with Pablo Ortiz, guest composer for the evening and Professor of Composition at UC Davis

Hika by Toru Takemitsu

Julia — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 21:55:38 +0000

Julia and Mimi play HIKA in the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Concert Hall. This performance was part of the 2009 SFCM Prep Alumni Award Ceremony with Julia as the guest of honor and recipient of the 2009 Distinguished Alumni Award.