#musicmonday: Violinist David McKnight at the Durham Farmers' Market (video)

Eventually I'm going to turn quirky venues into a series. After I've profiled a bunch of unorthodox live venues for classical music and how audiences react to hearing it there, I'm going to do a "Wishlist" post--places I think should host some art song or chamber music because they're so visually beautiful or acoustically on-point or could draw just the right crowd.¹

I was wandering through the Durham Farmers' Market on Saturday, Belgian waffle in one hand and some chard in the other, thinking about how happy I always feel when I'm there. "Of course!" I realized. "This would be the perfect place for anything some quirky classical." A contemporary steelpan-influenced percussion ensemble? On the stage opposite the food trucks? Come on.

I began to scarf my waffle even faster so I could gain a free hand, get out my phone, and add the Farmer's Market to the list . . . when I heard a violin. [more after the jump]


It was this very nice dude, area violinist David McKnight, who plays in a band & says he received an education in classical violin at the hands of the Chapel Hill Public School System. Here is a fiddle tune he wrote himself: nice, right?

In my further explorations of the market, I also encountered a live flutist and live trumpeter. I haven't been able to go to the market much this year because of the Saturday teaching I do at the UNC Community Music School--is this part of it now?! Was it because this was the first market in May? I don't know but it was the loveliest surprise to hear live classical + -ish tunes in this setting.

Also, David really wanted me to share with you guys a ditty he's been working on--a jingle for the farmer's market!

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1 This may essentially read, "NC TIGER RESCUE LET ME COME SING TO THE TIGERS PLEEEEEEEEASE," but I will try to work a few more layers into it before publishing.^↩