Two for the Top from Grapevine
Alexandra and Robert Switala, a brother and sister violin-viola duo from Grapevine, will appear Sunday on From the Top, the NPR/PBS program about young musicians performing at Carnegia Hall. They’ll play Johan Halvorsen’s jumpin’ Passacaglia on a theme from Handel for violin and viola. Their playing the final variation, back to back — so they can’t get any visual cues from each other — is a bit of a feat. Both Robbie and Allie study with Jan Mark Sloman, associate principal concertmaster with the DSO, and Allie will play with the Fort Worth Symphony this fall.
An earlier post talked about the financial troubles of local orchestras. Adding acts like this to the normal orchestra repertoire would go a long way in making them even more popular and financially solvent.
This program is a rebuke to all those who believe that classical music is dead or dying.