BD: Is the music that you play for everyone?
JK: I would hope that it is.
BD: Six billion of us these days?
JK: I don’t know. I think a lot of it has to do with offering music and having it available to as many people as possible. That’s something that has not necessarily been done, especially since arts funding is always the first thing to be cut in schools. That’s quite tragic because instant gratification and commercials and all of these things that are thrown at not only us, but at the children is quite overwhelming. Music — classical music especially — is something that takes patience. It takes effort to listen to. I know that if I go to a concert, and if I’m thinking that I have to buy eggs the next morning and I have to buy milk, I’m not going to absorb what the music is saying. It takes a great deal of effort on the part of the listener.
BD: Should we set aside, perhaps, five minutes at the beginning of each concert to put everyone in the right frame of mind for the music?
JK: I suppose that’s what the overture is supposed to do! [Both laugh]
BD: To keep music alive, is it music that has to adapt to the changing culture, or is it we that have to adapt, so that we can continue to enjoy the music?
JK: I think that society has changed, and music that is being composed today also reflects that. It reflects the kind of common experiences that humanity has had. That’s also why I think it’s so important to play and to communicate contemporary music, and to program it. It’s very difficult to program it!
BD: Why? What is it that makes it so difficult to get the new music to the audience and complete the circuit?
JK: I’ve heard people say so many times, “Oh, I heard a new music piece once, and I just hated it! And I hate new music now.” That’s just so funny to me! I go to the movies and I might hate a certain movie, but a person would never say, “I saw a movie once and I hated it. I hate movies now!” It’s a common misperception, because there is a lot of horrible, terrible new music out there. But there’s also a lot of great new music out there.
BD: Do you only play the great new music?
JK: I only play the new music that I definitely believe in, and that I feel has something to say, that’s for sure.
BD: How can you know this before you’ve really gotten into it, or even performed it?
JK: By looking at the score, and knowing the composer and the kind of works that he’s produced.
BD: If a composer comes to you and says, “I want to write a piece,” do you have any advice for that composer?
JK: No, I’d say to follow their own individual voice. And to hand in parts in time! [Both laugh]
BD: Did you ever play a concerto or a solo piece where the ink’s still wet?
JK: Yes, of course! [Laughs] That’s happened many times! It’s a little nerve-wracking. It’s probably more nerve-wracking for the composer. Some are composers just completely tortured while they write, and others write more easily. So I try to be as sympathetic to their situation as possible, but we also have to have a chance to learn the parts!
BD: [With a sly grin] You don’t want to sight read at the concert?
JK: [Emphatically] No! [Laughs]
BD: Are you completely tortured when you’re working on the music, or does it come easy for you?
JK: Nothing in music necessarily comes easily. I think the most important thing is the process of it. From the beginning it sounds horrible and then it gets better day by day. You begin to understand it more and you begin to feel it more, and the perception of the music changes. So it’s that process that I am in love with.
BD: Then is the performance a let-down?
JK: No, it’s all a part of the larger process because there’s no way that I’ll just play a piece once in my life, hopefully. So it is a part of a larger process, and it’s about constantly growing and changing as a musician.
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BD: I asked about recordings, but what about performances? Is there such a thing as a perfect performance?
JK: I try to think that there’s not. I’ve been to plenty of performances as an audience member where I thought it was the most amazing, perfect performance ever. But I think for any musician it would be quite daunting if any of us came off stage thinking, “This was the perfect performance,” because what can you do after that?
BD: Do you to go other violinists, or do you go to other concerts that don’t have violin?
JK: Everything. I go to all kinds of concerts.
BD: Then when you listen to another violinist, do you take some ideas from that performer?
JK: Yes, of course, even if it’s just that you fell in love with somebody’s sound or one aspect of their playing. That will definitely inspire you to look at your own playing in a different way. And it doesn’t even matter if it’s a violinist or a pianist or a singer or any instrument. So yeah, I feel like the most important thing for any musician is to go to concerts, because that’s what we’re doing, and that’s our life. For me, that’s absolutely my life.
BD: And yet, so many musicians are playing, playing, playing, playing. On their night off, they don’t want to go to a concert. They want to do something else — go bowling or play golf or something different!
JK: Yeah, I’m kind of the opposite. I just go for the concerts!
BD: Do you carry discs around and listen to them in your hotel and on the plane, or do you just go to concerts?
JK: Well, like I said, I love historical recordings, so I always have a couple of them with me.
BD: What violinists of the previous generations do you most admire?
JK: I would say definitely Bronislaw Huberman, Joseph Szigeti, Adolf Busch.
BD: Busch solo, or the Busch Quartet?
JK: Both, actually. One of my favorite quartet recordings is the Budapest Quartet doing Beethoven “Live at the Library of Congress.” I also have the studio-recorded version, but the live version is really quite spectacular!
BD: Tell me about your instrument.
JK: This is a 1727 Strad Ex-Grumiaux.
BD: It is one Grumiaux played?
JK: Yes. I believe he made his solo Bach recordings and also Mozart recordings with Claire Haskell on this violin.
BD: How long have you had it?
JK: I have had it for about seven years.
BD: So your recordings are also on this instrument?
JK: Yes, yes.
BD: Should we compare your recording to the same recording that Grumiaux made, and hear how you each brought your own sound out of the instrument?
JK: What’s really interesting is that the person that I take my instrument to, to kind of take care of it, is René Morel in New York. Morel is an older gentleman, and he actually worked on this instrument with Arthur Grumiaux. Grumiaux would take it to him for adjustments. So it’s quite fitting that we both now meet again!
BD: I would think that you would have to do that; that someone who knew the instrument for many years would want to continue taking care of the instrument.
JK: It was interesting.
BD: It seems like it would be more than just happenstance that you would seek out that person, if possible.
JK: I had no idea that he had known it. He’s just an amazing person, a luthier with the instrument.
BD: What about the bow? What bow do you use?
JK: I use a Tourte bow.
BD: It’s nicely balanced, and fits your hand well?
JK: Yeah, yeah.
BD: Do you try other instruments and other bows, or are you just happy with the one that you have?
JK: I am very happy with this instrument! I’m unbelievably happy with this instrument. Of course it’s always fun to play other friends’ Strads, when you run into another Strad, and compare and contrast. It’s always such a joy to find great instruments, so I feel very lucky to have the one that I do.
BD: What advice do you have for younger violinists coming along?
JK: To keep faith and to work hard. Eventually, in the long run, it will be very worth it.
BD: Is that a guarantee?
JK: I think in terms of being in love with music, yes, it’s a guarantee.
BD: What advice do you have for audiences?
JK: I don’t know! [Laughs] I’m an audience member myself, and I have no idea what advice I should give myself.
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