Gettin’ to know ya……..with Laura & Edson
Guy & Renée sat down with our star guests, Laura Lutzke and Edson Scheid, and asked them the hard-hitting questions you’ve come to expect from us……..
Guy & Renée: Edson, this question is cliché, but we want to know how old you were when you started violin and what made you choose the instrument?
Edson: I started playing violin when I was about two-and-a-half years old - my parents are both musicians, so music was in the house! I was born in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, and moved to Iowa City with my parents when I was only 3 months old - my father was pursuing his MM and DMA degrees in violin performance at the University of Iowa (Guy interrupts with “go Hawkeyes.” Renée shushes him). Yes, quite. Anyway, we lived there for about 4 years before returning to Brazil. While living in Iowa, I expressed interest in music, particularly in violin. My mother, who is a pianist, suggested that I should get a little plastic violin as a present. To my parents’ surprise, I didn’t like the gift at all and threw it away immediately! They concluded that I didn’t like it because it made no sound, therefore, it could not be a real violin! They rented an actual 1/16th size violin and gave it to me. This time, I was very excited about my new violin and felt that I could now make real music with a real instrument! Once I turned three years old, my parents enrolled me at the Preucil School of Music, which offered violin lessons by the famous Suzuki method. And so began my journey with the violin!
G&R: Enough about you. We know you’ve been to Boston a couple times before; where’s the best Brazilian food in Boston?
Edson: There is a wonderful Brazilian restaurant called Panela de Barro, located in Waltham. When I went there for the first time, I couldn’t believe what I was eating – it tasted like homemade Brazilian food, bringing back memories from my childhood. When I spoke with the owner, everything made sense… she comes from Minas Gerais, which is the state in which I grew up in Brazil! I highly recommend this restaurant to anyone who is looking for some typical Brazilian food!
G&R: Laura, Have you lived in New York your whole life?
Laura: Yes! I was born in New York City at Lenox Hill Hospital, and I grew up in Yonkers. My parents drove me to the city for school every day, and I took public transportation when I got a little older. I went to college and graduate school in New York, and then I moved to London for a year for another post-graduate degree at Guildhall School of Music and Drama. I almost stayed in the UK or in Europe after that, but I ultimately chose to have New York as my home base.
G&R: The traditional question, but we have to ask: how old were you when you started playing violin and why did you start?
Laura: I started when I was about three (or maybe two and a half?), and I confess I have no memory of it. My mother is a violinist, so she was my first teacher. It wasn’t until I got a bit older that I chose to stick with it.
G&R: Well, Renée started when she was 9 and Guy was 12 when he got going, so I guess you’ll have to play some slower tempos than you otherwise would so we can catch up. Laura, What’s it like to have Guy’s predecessor as your father? (Laura’s dad is Myron Lutzke, the esteemed former principal cellist of H+H.)
Laura: I’m extremely lucky to have two extraordinary musicians as parents. There are so many things that I experienced at a very young age that have taught and influenced me in ways I probably don’t even realize. They teach me every day what it means to be a musician, and they also inspire me to be a well-rounded, grounded human being. We get to play together quite a bit these days, which is so special. Every time we play a concert together, it feels like a full-circle moment that I’m always so grateful for.
G&R: Edson, After you left Brazil, you studied in Salzburg, then at Yale in New Haven, then moved to New York to study at Juilliard and have lived there since. [please correct if that’s wrong] Do you consider yourself a New Yorker?
Edson: I was told that it takes 10 years of living in the city for someone to be considered a New Yorker… I have been there since 2013, so I guess I’m a New Yorker now? The truth is that I feel great in NYC. I had so many wonderful experiences there, first as a student, then as a professional violinist. The energy of this city is simply incredible. After living in small cities for so long (both Salzburg and New Haven have a population of about 150.000 people), I felt it was time to move to a big city, and New York was the perfect place to go to!
G&R: You have lived in and traveled to so many different parts of the world as a violinist. Do you feel like the world of classical music is small, as people often say, or do you disagree?
Edson: I agree 100%! It is such a small world… talk with someone in the classical music world for a few minutes and you will certainly find out you know at least a few people in common!
G&R: Laura, You seem to travel around the world to thrilling places to perform. What stands out to you as the most wild musical project you’ve traveled for and where was it?
Laura: One of the wildest projects I traveled for that I can think of right now was playing an overnight 8-hour piece called SLEEP by Max Richter near the Great Wall of China with ACME. Whenever we play SLEEP, it’s usually somewhere very far away from home! That particular performance in China was supposed to be outdoors, somewhere on the Wall itself, but due to the weather it had to be moved inside at a nearby venue.
G&R: Edson speaks Portuguese. What you got?
Laura: I speak French! I went to a French school in NYC (Lycée Français de New York) from pre-nursery until 9th grade, after which I switched to an American high school. I have some French family on my mother's side, so I speak French with her quite often and it definitely is useful when I do projects in France.
G&R: Any tips for traveling musicians, or just for travelers in general?
Laura: Learning to pack efficiently was a big one for me (thank you, packing cubes!), as well as having a strategy in place to ease jetlag. Arriving at airports early is always worth it, as is making sure to prioritize sleep and time to unwind as much as possible. I’ve found that resting is just as important as anything (if not more so), especially during a challenging tour schedule :)
G&R: Back to you, Edson. You made a recording of the famous (infamous?) 24 Caprices by Niccolo Paganini USING A PERIOD VIOLIN. Is it because it wasn’t hard enough for you on a ‘normal,’ modern violin!?? My question is: What advice might you have for fellow string players about how to practice these fiendishly difficult pieces? Asking for a friend.
Edson: After spending some time learning how to play the baroque violin, first at Yale University, then at The Juilliard School, I felt I could bring a lot of what I’ve learned from it into the Paganini Caprices. Since in baroque music the composers usually don’t give the performers a lot of instructions in the page (articulations, dynamics, tempo flexibility, etc.), we need to understand the music on a deeper level in order to play it convincingly. For example: If there are no dynamic markings, it doesn’t mean there shouldn’t be any dynamics in the performance. It means we need to follow the gestures and the harmonic structure in order to add dynamics and bring out the full meaning of the music. It was fascinating to explore the Caprices with this in mind. Additionally, playing them on gut strings with a classical bow is a completely different experience than playing them on steel strings with a modern bow. Since gut strings react very differently than steel strings to the contact of the bow, I found myself paying much more attention to the use of the bow – making sure every bow stroke had a meaning and was making every note come to life with purpose.
G&R: Besides playing for L’Armonia this season, do you have any other projects (musical or otherwise) coming up that you’re excited about?
Edson: I’m very much looking forward to playing in Australia for the first time! I will play at the Adelaide Festival as a member of Il Pomo d’Oro in March 2027!
G&R: How about you, Laura, what other projects (musical or otherwise) do you have on the horizon this season that you’re excited about?
Laura: There are definitely a few things I’m looking forward to this season. I’ll be joining the Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Lincoln Center for their performances with the Paul Taylor Dance Company this November, including a new dance by Pam Tanowitz featuring Schubert’s Death and the Maiden string quartet. In December, I’ll be going to France to lead a concert version of Verdi’s La Traviata in Aix-en-Provence with Le Cercle de l’Harmonie, a Paris-based period instrument orchestra focusing mostly on late classical and early romantic repertoire. Later in the spring, I’ll be traveling to South Korea with the American Contemporary Music Ensemble (ACME) and Max Richter for a few performances in Seoul.
G&R: You’ve played with Paul McCartney, Björk, Sigur Rós, and Philip Selway of Radiohead. That’s not a question; we just think people should probably know how cool you are.
Laura: LOL. I have been very fortunate to have been given the chance to work with incredible people at different points in my career so far