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Karen Hauge: You’re going to be playing a program in Kansas City at the end of the month. Can you talk a little bit about the program you’ll be playing, and about why you chose what you chose?

Caroline Goulding: Yes, these are all some of my favorite pieces. Whenever I’m thinking of a recital program, I usually think of some kind of connection or theme. With this program, I also listened to the pieces from one to the next [to] know if it [was] a great program or not. I did that and I really enjoyed it.

Enescu's Sonata No. 3 is on the program, and this will be my debut of that piece. I haven’t explored any of his other works, and he’s a wonderful composer—Romanian composer—and I’ve always been fascinated with the Romanian–Hungarian tradition, so I wanted to include that. This piece has been done by many great violinists and I love it. There are many elements and techniques that [Enescu incorporates] that are specifically from the Romanian musical language. Schumann's Sonata No. 1 is a wonderful piece as well. I have always loved this piece, and I love all the Schumann Sonatas for violin and piano. You often hear people play Brahms' [Sonatas] and you don’t hear the Schumann quite as much, but it is a wonderful piece.

The Mozart G major is a perfect way to start—one of my favorite composers, if not my favorite—so I had to incorporate something like that. And the Fauré Romance  will serve as some sort of release, because it’s a beautiful, short, and lyrical piece. And of course there’s the Saint-Saëns/Ysaÿe work. Saint-Saëns is French as well, so you kind of have a French theme going there, but [the piece] was arranged by Ysaÿe, who actually was a big fan of Enescu. His Third Violin Sonata was dedicated to Enescu himself, so you can make a slight connection [there]. Ysaÿe is a virtuosic composer, and also an intellectual composer. This piece was written for piano at first, and it’s a great version, and I love it. So that’s the SparkNotes version of why I chose this program.

KH: You have made headlines mostly in a solo orchestral setting, headlining major orchestras all over the United States. How is it different from these solo recitals?

CG:  A recital is a unique experience particularly because it’s an intimate setting as opposed to standing in front of a big orchestra saying, “Here I am.” Of course it’s a longer duration, and in a way it’s more tiring to play a recital because of that. It takes more out of you, I think, because you have so many different facets that you can show. You can showcase different sides of you in a way that you maybe couldn’t with one piece with an orchestra.

KH: You recently joined the extremely prestigious ranks of Avery Fisher Career Grant winners—congratulations!—What does that mean for your career moving forward?

CG: I was really honored to just be a part of the roster of people that have received this award in the past. I was thankful for the money, but it wasn’t really about [that]. It was a plus, but just to be receiving that award and to be in that hall of fame was a huge honor for me. So it will definitely help my career in many ways in the future, and I’m just trying to use it very wisely and carefully.

KH: I always wonder how you very talented child prodigies get started out on an instrument at age three.

CG: I started at three-and-a-half. I had two older brothers who played in high school. My parents were both special education teachers, so music wasn’t a primary focus in our family. We loved music, but they weren’t musicians at all, so they didn’t go to work and play music every day. But my brothers loved their instruments and, because I loved my brothers and looked up to them, I loved their instruments. So one day my brother said to my mom, “Why don’t you get her an instrument?” And it was going to be piano or violin, and I picked violin because I thought it looked like a guitar. So that’s how it started!

KH: What one thing do you most look forward to doing in this upcoming year?

CG: I just moved to Boston, and I love it here so far. I’m looking forward to learning more and studying, and beginning a new chapter in my life in a new place. And playing concerts. This season should be really fun. There’s a great lineup, so I’m excited to go to the places I’m going.

Caroline Goulding, violin with pianist Dina Vainshtein are presented by the Harriman-Jewell Series as a Free Discovery Concert, September 24^th, at the Folly Theatre. For more information and print-at-home tickets, visit http://www.hjseries.org.

By Karen Hauge

Classical Contributor, Senior Editor

A native of New Jersey, Karen Hauge relocated to Kansas City in 2010 to attend UMKC in pursuit of her M.M. in flute performance. Since moving to Kansas City, Karen has been active as a performer within the Conservatory and as a music educator in the community, working with the Conservatory’s Community Academy of Music and Dance.

Karen earned a B.M. from the University of Delaware, where she studied music education with Suzanne Burton and Robert Streckfuss. During her time at Delaware, Karen was awarded several grants to fund an independent research project over the course of two years. The project and subsequent thesis, entitled “What Does It Mean To Be Musical?,” explored the ways in which people naturally interact with music in their everyday lives, and earned her a degree with distinction upon graduation. Karen has been active as a solo and chamber performer in Delaware, New York, and New Jersey. She has performed for world-renowned flute pedagogues such as Jeanne Baxtresser and Jeffrey Khaner, and has received honors for outstanding performance through her career at both the university and professional level. Her primary flute teachers have been Mardee Reed-Ulmer, Eileen Grycky, and Mary Posses. 

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