Francesca dePasquale is one of those rare musicians for whom the term ‘artist’ really means something. There is something poetic in her gift of expression with bow and string that brings you to an elevated place in yourself, a place that is strangely thrilling yet tranquil, a place where you want to linger, to surrender to that magical sound, wondering “how on Earth does she do that?”
That’s probably an unanswerable question, even for her. She says “It’s just how I feel the music.” But there’s a lot more to it than that. It takes immense dedication and thousands and thousands of hours of practice to bring that glorious technique into full synchrony with such deep and passionate feeling.
One prominent reviewer had this to say about her, “Magnificent intonation, gorgeous control of dynamics and a big gutsy sound that soared and whispered and completely won us over. Her lovely shaping of melodies in the slow movement was creamy smooth and utterly natural. The climax of the movement gave me goose bumps. The last movement was a knockout and earned her a prolonged standing ovation.”
Another reviewer called her performance, “scintillating.”
Without question dePasquale is destined for greatness. No, she may already be there. At age 26, she teaches at Juilliard with violin legend Itzhak Perlman, is on the faculties of the renowned Heifetz Institute for the Exceptionally Gifted and the Rutgers University Mason Gross School of the Arts and in 2015 she won the Classical Recording Foundation Young Artist of the Year award. If that isn’t enough, she is currently the recipient of the national Leonore Annenberg Career Fellowship for the Performing Arts.
As accomplished as dePasquale is as a musician, she is equally generous as a human being. In addition to presenting two concerts – Saturday evening in Three Rivers and Sunday afternoon in Visalia– she will visit local schools and will perform for 300 students from the ProYouth Heart program.
The Three Rivers performance will be held on Saturday, March 12 at 7 pm at the Community Presbyterian Church, 43410 Sierra Drive; in Visalia, the performance will be Sunday, March 13 at 4pm in the Main Street Theater, 307 E. Main Street.
Tickets are $12, available at the door. Children and students admitted free. Adult accompanying a child also admitted free.
Sponsors for dePasquale are Stan Johnson of Three Rivers and the Rotary Club of Visalia.