EARLINE magazine

EARLINE magazine (NL)

The latest edition of Earline Magazine addresses the prevalence of hearing issues among professional musicians, often due to frequent exposure to excessively loud conditions. Earline hosted a panel discussion with Director of the NVAB Carmen De Jonge, rapper and composer Rosario Mussendijk (sor), oboist Marc Stotijn, clinical physicist & audiologist Jan de Laat, and bassoonist Jos de Lange. Violinist Monica Germino reacts to the discussion. 

'The answer was found in the whisperviolin’
In her reaction to the panel discussion hosted by Earline with the NVAB, violinist Monica Germino discusses her struggle with hyperacusis, how to reduce the number of decibels under her ears, and how the whisperviolin provided a lifeline during a tumultuous time. 

Taboo
This article is part of a larger conversation about breaking down the taboo around hearing issues among musicians. Germino is spearheading an effort to shine a light on this often-whispered topic among musicians, looking at how musicians can adapt themselves and/or their surroundings to protect their fragile hearing.
 
Germino: “Ever since I first started to talk publicly about my hearing and working out how to deal with the new situation, I’ve been getting messages from musicians reaching out. Often very moving, many sadly familiar, and all requesting confidentiality. Which of course I honor, but the fact that hearing is still a taboo topic among musicians in 2022 is something very long overdue for a change. And then there is the music industry itself — I see many chances to develop initiatives where musicians could continue to perform without jeopardizing their hearing."
 
 

Film: Geluiden van lucht

The 13-minute film 'Geluiden van lucht' [Sounds of air] was premiered on 18 June 2022, during the first edition of Dag van de Componist [Day of the Composer] 
Livestream and coverage by NPO Radio4, with NTR broadcasting live from TivoliVredenburg
Utrecht was the epicenter of this event, which included more than 100 new music events throughout the Netherlands. 
 
Composition: Vanessa Lann - Text: Cees Nooteboom - Concept, direction: Neil Wallace
Performers: Florien de la Fosse, soprano - Pete Harden, electric guitar - Saskia Lankhoorn, electric piano - Monica Germino, whisperviolin
Dutch Composers Now / Nieuw Geneco
 
The whisperviolin [pictured below] plays an intimate role in the film, reflecting Cees Nooteboom's text on departure, love, on loss "...in the emptiness. hearing from afar still their voices, sounds of air."

image to left: still from the film Geluiden van lucht

the whisperviolin & If It’s Hip, It’s Here

Plans are afoot for the whisperviolin. During these difficult, fragile times for the arts, this spectacular instrument is finding its way, embarking on new collaborations and creations. Check out If It’s Hip, It’s Here's* article, featuring primarily Marcel Wanders' work on the instrument and a bit of its origin story.

Luthier Bas Maas and designer Marcel Wanders created an entirely new, ingenious, lower-decibel instrument, inspired by and loosely modeled on the 17th-century pochette violin and built to explore the world of quieter sounds. 

*If It’s Hip, It’s Here began in 2007. IIHIH prides itself as a resource for providing information and introducing emerging and established artists, creators, and designers.

The Silence in Between

Monica Germino & Guy Livingston
The Silence in Between, a lecture-performance featuring two premières, text by archy, and a sneak preview film featuring the whisperviolin
This program is part of Almost Silence, a mini-festival of music and silence in The Hague, curated by Guy Livingston
venue: precise location TBA (The Hague)
Date pending: June 2021
 
it is better to be a part of beauty
for one instant and then cease to
exist than to exist forever
and never be a part of beauty
 
-the lesson of the moth, from archy and mehitabel by Don Marquis 
 

MUTED in the movies - a documentary

Filmmaker Bas Andriessen followed Monica and MUTED from start to...? This is far from a finished story... the film ends with the completion of the whisperviolin and the culmination of a year's touring with MUTED. Bas is currently in the throes of editing hours (days) of footage to make MUTED ready for the silver screen. Watch this space! 

photos: the whisperviolin coming to life. Luthier Bas Maas and designer Marcel Wanders created an entirely new, ingenious, lower-decibel instrument, inspired by and loosely modeled on the 17th-century pochette violin and created to explore the world of quieter sounds.

           

The Silence Inbetween

The Silence Inbetween by The Lyric Feature, the Irish broadcaster RTÉ lyric fm's weekly documentary slot.

Pianist and radio host Guy Livingston takes us on a journey from the pauses of medieval chant, through silences in Monteverdi, Mahler, Pärt, and beyond. He meets Monica Germino, a violinist who pioneered the “whisperviolin” after her hearing demanded serious protection; Romain Charles, an astronaut who spent 520 days in isolation on a simulated mission to Mars; Luis Rolo, an antenna engineer from the European Space Agency; and Sean Street, author of a book on silence. Jane Clarke’s poem “The Pianist” concludes this feature.

Presenter : Guy Livingston
Producer for lyric fm: Olga Buckley
Premiered: 19 April 2020

Listen on Soundcloud

photo Anne Reinke

my companions these days...

from left to right: mr. blue (with tapping glove), a ca. 1970 frame violin, a J. B. Ceruti violin (1802), a ca. 1870 frame violin

lurking in the background: framed vintage mutes. Special thanks to Stam Vioolbouw of Utrecht

& the ingenious whisperviolin, with adjustable decibel levels

'Diagnosis sends violin star Monica Germino in search of softer sounds at PuSh fest'

Challenged by the onset of an ear condition that creates extreme sensitivity to sound, violinist Monica Germino has discovered that playing at very low volume has opened up expressive possibilities. photo ©Anne Reinke
 

Monica Germino was once, by her own admission, “probably one of the loudest violinists” in classical music, known for her huge tone, but also for playing fire-breathing electric violin. Now she’s likely the quietest musician in the field, and for good reason. Germino was recently diagnosed with hyperacusis, or extreme sensitivity to sound, and advised that if she continued to perform she ran the risk of irreparably damaging her ears.

On the line from her Amsterdam home, the violinist reports that the first physician she consulted told her to stop playing entirely. “And all the rest said, ‘No, no… Keep playing, but just use a lot of ear protection,’” she says with an audible shudder. “And I just couldn’t do that; that wasn’t going to work.…The idea of wearing ear protectors was like sensory deprivation.”

Then, as she says, “the composers saved me.” Having resigned herself to the idea of abandoning her performing career, Germino was in the process of bowing out of prior commitments when her frequent collaborator Michael Gordon, of the Bang On a Can composers’ collective, offered an alternative.

“I said, ‘So this is what’s going on,’ and he didn’t really want to talk about our other project at all,” she recalls. “He said, ‘Okay, I’m going to write you a really soft piece. I don’t care if anyone can hear it; I’m going to write it, and I want to be the first.’

“I just said, ‘I don’t know, Michael.’ But my mind kept circling around that idea, and I went and started looking at mutes, and got lost in this fantastic world of crazy mute-makers who are working in all sorts of innovative ways to change the colour of the instrument but also cut the volume down.”

Much to her surprise, she discovered that playing at extremely low volume opened up expressive possibilities and tonal options she’d previously overlooked. Equally surprising was that Gordon’s Bang On a Can colleagues Julia Wolfe and David Lang wanted to contribute, and soon their mentor, the Dutch composer Louis Andriessen, was onboard, too. The result is MUTED, a suite of low-volume works that Germino will bring to Music on Main next week, playing on a variety of quiet instruments—muted violin, frame violin, and a new “whisperviolin” made especially for her—in an intimate space.

She’ll also sing while she plays—and one of the texts that Andriessen has set for her might just offer a few clues to her character. It’s taken from American humorist Don Marquis’s Archy and Mehitabel stories, based on the friendship between a poetic cockroach and a cat.

“I remember saying to Louis that I relate to Mehitabel, because she’s got such a desperate life,” Germino says, laughing. “She’s actually an alley cat, but the whole time she’s pretending she’s this reincarnation of Cleopatra, and she’s had all these past lives of glamorous characters.…And in the meantime she’s homeless, and she’s falling in love with all these horrible cats who betray her all the time. But I like the way she can put on this amazing act, like ‘Life is fabulous, Archy. I may be old and dancing on three feet, but I’m a grand old dame.’

“I like that combination of desperation and faking and… perseverance,” she continues. “I hope I can be that—maybe not so much the faking part, but forging ahead no matter what. I really did not think I was going to forge ahead the way I am right now, but I’m just so curious about what’s going to happen next and where this is going to go.”

Monica Germino and Music on Main present MUTED at the Orpheum Annex from Monday to Wednesday (January 28 to 30), as part of the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival.

PDF: Georgia Straight.com-Diagnosis sends violin star Monica Germino in search of softer sounds at PuSh fest

PUSH FESTIVAL

De Volkskrant: "Violinist Monica Germino can..."

De Volkskrant (NL) 
Excerpts translated from Dutch. Read complete article here (Dutch) 
 
INTERVIEW MONICA GERMINO
Violinist Monica Germino can play again, despite hearing problems, thanks to quiet pieces written especially for her
 
The American-Dutch violinist Monica Germino, known for her electronically amplified performances of music by contemporary composers, is given the worst conceivable news three years ago: she has to stop making music or take drastic measures to protect her hearing.
Monica Germino. Photo Sharon Mor Yosef

She has known for a long time that she is 'sensitive to sound,' which means that sound enters her ears at a higher level than it would to others hearing the exact same sound. That is why her ears are more prone to damage. The loudest violinist in the country can now only play very softly.

'It's like a runner who hears that if he keeps running at high speeds, he is likely to have knee injuries in the future. He can still do a fast walk,' says Germino. '80 decibels is my fast walk.'

Quite a blow for someone who cherishes volume. Even her acoustic violin is too loud. Germino's first reaction is to stop everything. 'I didn't want to have the violin next to my ears.'  She arranges replacements for her projects and concerts. She can hardly talk about her condition with others. 'Playing the violin is my identity. What was I supposed to say now? Hi, I'm Monica and I'm ...'

She also calls Michael Gordon, the world-famous American composer, to cancel a project. 'Then everything changed. For Michael, stopping was not an option. He said, "I am going to write you a very soft piece. And I want to be the first to do this for you."

Two colleagues from the New York collective Bang on a Can, Julia Wolfe and David Lang, join forces. They have been working with the theme of silence for some time; for example, Lang wrote a 'whisper opera.' Wolfe had written a piece for Germino before. The Dutch composer Louis Andriessen, who composed several pieces for Germino, is asked to be artistic leader. The result, MUTED, will premiere tomorrow at the Oranjewoud Festival. Germino can play again. 'The composers saved me,' says the violinist.

Two historical 'frame violins' are featured in MUTED. A frame violin is a violin without a sound box. Just like an electric violin, but acoustic and unamplified. A violin without a sound box is extremely quiet. Such an instrument is usually used to practice (to spare the neighbors). The renowned industrial designer Marcel Wanders, former amateur violinist, has also built a spectacular whisperviolin with luthier Bas Maas. Instead of the traditional scroll found on normal violins, the whisperviolin has a finger, as if to say: shhh. 

But the music in MUTED is not necessarily extremely soft. 'It is also about the perception of sound, and about contrast. For example, I can start out playing with a sourdine, a mute, on the violin. When I take it off the audience suddenly experiences the music as loud, but it is really not loud at all. Sound works just like light, you adapt to it.' 

Can't you just play with earplugs, other musicians sometimes ask. Germino has tried it for a year before she finally quit her orchestral job at the end of the '90s, already diagnosed with sound sensitivity. 'I never got used to it. Earplugs are deadening. They take away too many of the subtle details, such as the sound of bow hair gliding across a string. '

Many colleagues did not understand why she quit her job. Hearing damage is a sensitive issue for (classical) musicians, almost a taboo. Those who play in a Wagner opera in an orchestra pit are exposed to sound levels around 130 decibels. Germino: 'When I left the orchestra, a colleague said: "Well, aren't we all deaf?'

However Germino is not deaf, perhaps to the contrary. By playing softer, her experience of music has changed. 'I am now much more aware of sound. It sounds ironic, but I now hear a hundred times as much as before.'

Muted. 7 (try-out), 8 (premiere) and 9/6 2018, Oranjewoud Festival. Next season (international) tour.

WHISPERVIOLIN, FRAME VIOLIN, SOURDINE

The whisperviolin, made for Monica Germino by designer Marcel Wanders together with luthier Bas Maas, is a violin that produces fewer decibels than the normal, acoustic violin. It is inspired by the seventeenth-century 'pocket violin:' a violin with a narrower sound box, then used by dance masters.

She also plays two frame violins: violins without a sound box, only the 'ribs.' These instruments were made out of the leftover wood from making violins. The sound is softer and rich in overtones, which are higher tones that vibrate sympathetically with the sounding tone.

An ordinary violin can also be made to sound softer when using a sourdine, also known as a mute. This is a clip made of wood, plastic, metal or leather, which is placed on the bridge, limiting or altering the vibrations. Germino now has a collection of hundreds of sourdines.

Decibels & Instruments & Mutes: the backstory

MUTED premiered in June 2018 at the Oranjewoud Festival. Programme notes and text here.
 
What’s in a decibel?
The specialists were unanimous: my ears are highly sensitive to sound. ‘Geluidsgevoelig,’ in Dutch. It sounded almost positive to me, ‘sensitive to sound.’ It’s also not uncommon. But a high sensitivity to sound means that my ears are more prone to damage. A person standing next to me could be exposed to exactly the same sounds, yet not be affected. The advice was clear: I needed to protect my hearing by significantly reducing my exposure to high decibel (dB) levels.
Decibel levels and the key concept of duration: what is considered safe? How many dB for how long? Impossible questions to answer infallibly, but working with the Audiologisch Centrum Hilversum brought clarity to a complex situation. They measured the decibel levels of different violin mutes (a.k.a. sourdine, sordino, demper), giving estimates and advice about a multitude of issues. Many thanks to experts N.J. Versfeld and J.P. Kronemeijer, and Oorwerk’s Stijn Hoogeboom in Hilversum.
A runner hears: if they keep running at high speeds, chances are high that in future years they’re going to have serious knee pain. They might even need surgery. But if they slow down to a fast walk, chances are they could avoid that. So the runner chooses to protect their knees by going from running to a fast walk. In hearing terms, my ‘fast walk’ is about 80 decibels. My acoustic violin can measure 90-95 dB under my ear.
Confronted with the fact that it would be reckless to continue exposing my ears to a high level of decibels, I had to make choices. I was lucky that I learned this sooner rather than later. I consoled myself with that knowledge while evaluating the decibel levels of treasured and prospective collaborations. I said farewell to click tracks, bass drums, and high-volume soundtracks. I sifted through pieces that were simply too loud for me now, many of them close to my heart, and started the process of finding them new homes, new interpreters.
There’s a passage from Igor Stravinsky’s Poetics of Music: ‘My freedom will be so much the greater and more meaningful the more narrowly I limit my field of action and the more I surround myself with obstacles. Whatever diminishes constraint diminishes strength. The more constraints one imposes, the more one frees one's self of the chains that shackle the spirit.’
Limits inspire creativity. MUTED opens doors for a new voice. There's power in quietness and strength in speaking softly. 

 

pictured here: the frame violin, also known as a mute violin, ca. 1870. It has a beautiful, intimate, overtone-rich sound. Surprisingly little is known about these striking instruments. One resource is the National Music Museum at the University of South Dakota, whose collection houses what could be this frame violin's sister...


MUTED
Cue the new music community: resourceful, supportive and stubborn composers and colleagues who lifted me up and pulled me along this fascinating journey. Ups and downs and the unexpected began to feel like the status quo. Michael Gordon's response to what was drastic news to me —having to protect my hearing by stopping or adapting how I played the violin — was one of optimism and curiosity. I'll never forget his words: “I’m going to write you a piece so soft, I don’t care if no one can hear it.” Michael, David Lang, and Julia Wolfe decided to join forces to create MUTED, “the quietest violin piece ever written.” The three later invited Louis Andriessen to join in the experiment, fulfilling a long-held wish to collaborate.


Watch musical excerpt by Louis Andriessen here (Podium Witteman, live television broadcast)


There is an enormously talented and resourceful pool of people involved, including stage and light designer Floriaan Ganzevoort, executive producer Neil Wallace & De Doelen, numerous mute creators, filmmakers, audiologists, producers, commissioners, as well as a swath of venues and festivals. The list* is long and heartwarming.
Special thanks to luthier Bas Maas and designer Marcel Wanders, who created an entirely new, lower-decibel instrument, a ‘whisperviolin,’ inspired by and loosely modeled on the 17th-century ‘pochette’ violin, but made to explore the world of quieter sounds. Besides unmatched creativity and unparalleled skill, both bring a sense of adventure and a palpable excitement to the process.
 

MUTED has its roots in the reaction from composers to my high sensitivity to sound and having to cut down the amount of decibels pouring into my ears. I used to play pretty hard-hitting music, much of it newly commissioned. I took measures to protect my hearing and left the world of orchestral playing many years ago, but I was probably one of the loudest violinists around. And as Mehitabel** would say, “I have no regrets!” But saying farewell to a repertoire close to my heart has its difficult moments, and tough choices abound.
It’s new territory for me, there’s an uncharted development process ahead, and a completely new sound world to figure out. My work has always been composer driven, and I am extremely grateful to and moved by the active role composers and colleagues are taking in this enforced, bewildering, and somehow increasingly exciting development in my creative path as a musician.
 
**MUTED includes a part for my (speaking & singing) voice, in settings of texts from Don Marquis’ 1930’s New York Post cult column 'Archy and Mehitabel.' 

The mutes in MUTED 
Central to Monica Germino’s work is her unusual family of instruments, as well as her ever-expanding collection of mutes. Germino’s ongoing search has resulted in over 400 vintage, modern, and newly commissioned mutes. A mute (a.k.a. sourdine, sordino, demper) can alter the sound of the violin in countless ways. From Canada to Spain, mute-makers are experimenting with new designs and all kinds of materials – leather, metal, cork, magnets, plexiglass, bone, rubber, paper, textiles, the list goes on. Special thanks to Stam Vioolbouw for their marvelous donation to the collection.

 

The instruments

  • A (muted) J. B. Ceruti violin from Cremona (1802) on permanent loan from the Elise Mathilde Foundation
  • A rare frame violin, also known as a mute violin, with a delicate, surprisingly overtone-rich sound (ca. 1870)
  • A custom-made Violectra electric violin (2007)
  • The ingenious whisperviolin (2019), by Bas Maas and Marcel Wanders
  • A ‘whisperbow,’ made of carbon fibre, produces a wispy, delicate sound

The whisperviolin (2019)
To add to the instrumentarium, luthier Bas Maas and designer Marcel Wanders created an entirely new, lower-decibel instrument, a ‘whisperviolin,’ inspired by and loosely modeled on the 17th-century ‘pochette’ violin, but created to explore the world of quieter sounds. When Wanders took on this challenge, he spoke about decibels and sound and his fascination with “designing a violin for Monica, and how this could ultimately also help other violinists.” Marcel Wanders played the violin for 6 years and reveres its history, shape, and form. Bas Maas is on a quest for ways that unconventional ideas could possibly work. Besides unmatched creativity and unparalleled skill, both bring a sense of adventure and a palpable excitement to the process.

Marcel Wanders: “The hope also is that this new instrument will end up helping other violinists as well. Monica is not the only one going through this.”

I wholeheartedly agree. As interesting as this whole journey is, I hope going down this path can help other musicians. On that note...

Frequently Asked Questions:
"Why don’t you just use earplugs?” For those who do and can still enjoy music-making, that's great. I tried this option for many months, but it felt like sensory deprivation. I rely on (and love) the subtle sounds associated with playing the violin. It's essential for me to hear the tapping of my left hand on the fingerboard and the sound the hair of the bow makes when touching the string. Earplugs block those sounds out. This all contributed to my decision to bring down the volume of the violin instead of muffling my ears. That said, of course I fully support the use of hearing protectors. 
"Do your ears hurt?" No. That said, certain loud or abrasive sounds hurt. Which brings me to...
"What is hyperacusis?" This is something I suffer from, albeit to a lesser degree than described in the majority of the cases I have read about online. I notice hyperacusis during activities like emptying a dishwasher- the sound of a plate striking another plate is an unpleasant, jarring sound for me. I hesitate to provide a comprehensive link to any one source, as there is a lot of information out there. 
 
Other useful articles (please email me if you have tips or suggestions)
WNPR News: How Your Hearing Is Affected By Volume, and What the Damage Sounds Like
WBUR article: Are earphones or earbuds a problem?
There is a flood of information, research, and articles about hearing protection and hearing disorders available online and in print. I have found that the majority focuses on musicians who play amplified, and orchestral musicians (too many cases for me to document here).

If you're still with me:
June 2018 marked the world première at the Netherlands’ Oranjewoud Festival, as part of Leeuwarden’s 2018 Cultural Capital of Europe programme.
 
A collective work by 4 composers for violin, voice, whisperviolin, frame violin, a multitude of mutes, and light design
Composers: Louis Andriessen, Michael Gordon, David Lang, Julia Wolfe
Set design & lighting: Floriaan Ganzevoort
 
Notes about the program:
The collective composition MUTED features violin, voice, whisperviolin, frame violins, hundreds of mutes, and light design. Created in response to Germino's high sensitivity to sound, Michael Gordon, David Lang, and Julia Wolfe joined forces to create a piece that explores the limits of audibility. The three composers invited Louis Andriessen to join them in the experiment, fulfilling a long-held wish to collaborate. Floriaan Ganzevoort designed a light object based on sound waves, controlled live in performance.
While the label “quietest piece ever written for violin” certainly applies to parts of this 4-composer work, the contrast in audibility plays an essential role. Similar to how pupils expand and contract depending on how much light there is in a space, the different decibel levels play with sonic perception. A frame violin (ca. 1870) with a delicate, surprisingly overtone-rich sound is featured alongside the ingenious 'whisperviolin' (2019), created by designer Marcel Wanders and luthier Bas Maas. Other instruments are paired with metal-tipped fingers or bespoke mutes from an ever-expanding collection of more than 400 vintage, modern, and newly commissioned mutes. Monica’s singing voice is heard in settings of texts from 'Archy and Mehitabel,' a compilation of Don Marquis’s writings in his daily column, where they first appeared in 1916.
This intensely theatrical piece is conceived for small groups of listeners in intimate spaces. MUTED may owe its origins to four composers paying tribute to the determination of a single musician, but it is also a reflection on silence, on the act of listening, an antidote to the noise and the ever-increasing clamor of today’s world.

 

Light design by Floriaan Ganzevoort


*Cast of credits, MUTED:

Commissioners
The Doelen, Rotterdam (Neil Wallace, Executive Producer)
Oranjewoud Festival, Oranjewoud
New York Philharmonic Orchestra, New York
Music on Main, Vancouver
Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival
 
Partners and presenters
Wonderfeel Festival
Korzo Theater, Den Haag
Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ, Amsterdam
November Music, Den Bosch
 
With thanks to
Michael Gordon, Julia Wolfe, David Lang, Louis Andriessen
MassMoCA, Massachusetts, USA
Kenny Savelson, Bang on a Can All-Stars
Phillipa Thompson, Bang on a Can Summer Festival
Vera Kuiper, Dutch Consulate, New York
Neil Wallace, Programme Director, de Doelen
Bas Maas, luthier
Marcel Wanders, designer
Niek Versfeld and Jaap Peter Kronemeijer, Audiologisch Centrum Hilversum
Stijn Hoogeboom, Oorwerk, Hilversum
Bas Andriessen, filmmaker
Jacqueline & Serge Stam, Stam Vioolbouw
Fonds Podiumkunsten / Performing Arts Fund NL

MUTED in the press

New York Times reviews MUTED 
The Wall Street Journal Philharmonic Dials Down Music to a ‘Whisper’
New York Times: MUTED on the top of the list
6 Classical Music Concerts to See in N.Y.C. This Weekend 
The Georgia Straight, Vancouver CA: Diagnosis sends violin star Monica Germino in search of softer sounds at PuSh fest
De VolkskrantVioliste Monica Germino kan door speciaal voor haar geschreven zachte stukkenweer spelen
NRC Handelsblad10 jarige Red Sofa opent met Monica Germino’s zachtaardige viool   
The Washington Times
Oberon’s Grove
Broadwayworld.com announcements & here
New York Philharmonic press release
VIDEO
Music on Main about MUTED
Podium Witteman, live: fragment van MUTED 
Full broadcast: Podium Witteman


The New York Times -Anthony Tommasini
The violinist Monica Germino in "Muted," presented by the Philharmonic at National Sawdust in Brooklyn.CreditHiroyuki Ito for The New York Times
The violinist Monica Germino in "Muted," presented by the Philharmonic at National Sawdust in Brooklyn.
"... the impressive and courageous violinist Monica Germino gave the American premiere of “Muted,” a 40-minute, musical-theatrical work written for her by four composers: Michael Gordon, David Lang, Julia Wolfe and Louis Andriessen.
Ms. Germino was a champion of contemporary music, including experimental works with percussion and electronics, when, a few years ago, she was diagnosed with a hearing condition that rendered her extremely sensitive to sound. She must avoid exposure to high volume of any kind.
“Muted” was the response of four composer colleagues. The piece involves very soft sounds played on an array of violins, from traditional to experimental, and used various standard mutes (brass pieces fitted on the bridge of the instrument to muffle sound). During parts of ”Muted,” Ms. Germino also sang or spoke fanciful texts by Don Marquis and moved around a central, light-projecting circular tower of aluminum rings (designed by Floriaan Ganzevoort).
While wistful, the music shifts through moods and styles that alternately suggest tender folk songs, gently swaying dances, bursts of hushed busyness, bluesy melodies, even twangy hints of hoedown. “Muted” may be the quietest piece ever written for violin, but it was riveting in this intimately powerful performance."
read more


The Wall Street Journal - A violinist with a sensitivity to sound will perform ‘Muted,’ a special, quieter piece for audiences in Brooklyn

Violinist Monica Germino performs on a frame violin, which is quieter than a traditional violin, at New York’s Lincoln Center. Photo: Peter Foley for The Wall Street Journal
Violinist Monica Germino performs on a frame violin, which is quieter than a traditional violin, at New York’s Lincoln Center. A caveat: the audio in the video segment is louder than in performance
"The composers involved explain that “Muted” isn’t necessarily difficult for audiences to hear. [Michael] Gordon said concertgoers just need to pay closer attention. He likens it to stepping into a dimly lit room and adjusting your eyes until you can see clearly once again..." 
The Wall Street Journal


Live TV broadcast Podium Witteman -the MUTED segment starts at 6'55" (in Dutch). Music: 19'30"

Excerpt by Louis Andriessen here


De Volkskrant (NL) 
 
Violinist Monica Germino can play again, despite hearing problems, thanks to quiet pieces written especially for her                  

"The American-Dutch violinist Monica Germino, known for her electronically amplified performances of music by contemporary composers, is given the worst conceivable news three years ago: she has to stop making music or take drastic measures to protect her hearing." ...READ MORE


NRC Handelsblad (NL)
Excerpts translated from Dutch
 
Red Sofa celebrates 10 years, opens festival with Monica Germino’s quiet violin 
Adventurous violinist Monica Germino enthusiastic about Red Sofa's new music program in Rotterdam's De Doelen                       
Read complete article here (in Dutch). -by Joep Stapel, 21 March, 2018      

"...As the pop-up artist, Monica Germino will decide what she will actually play in the moment. It will certainly be soft, because a few years ago Germino was diagnosed as 'sensitive to sound,' which means that her ears are more prone to damage [from high decibel levels]. She had to say goodbye to the high-octane soundtracks and louder works for electric violin, giving up many pieces she had often performed.

She is now "more curious than sad," says Germino. Playing quietly opens up a whole new dimension; and apart from a reflection on silence and listening it can also be "an antidote to the relentless noise of our world." She has amassed a huge collection of mutes (sourdines) and plays a rare 'frame violin' from ca. 1870, an instrument without a sound box which therefore plays at a very low volume. Germino: "Neil [Wallace] wants me to play the frame violin in the Main Hall without any amplification; for me that's a thrill, an adventure." Wallace: "You will hear a pin drop.”

Spring Loaded Festival: 10 years of Red Sofa. De Doelen Rotterdam.


photos: Anne Reinke

NRC: Red Sofa, pop-up artist, & quiet playing

NRC Handelsblad
21 March, 2018.  Excerpts translated from Dutch
 
Red Sofa celebrates 10 years, opens festival with Monica Germino’s quiet violin (excerpts)
Adventurous violinist Monica Germino enthusiastic about Red Sofa's new music program in Rotterdam's De Doelen                       Read complete article here (in Dutch) 
-by Joep Stapel       

Contemporary music has a reputation for being difficult. The tired cliche of dry, impenetrable music played to empty halls still exists. But De Doelen in Rotterdam is overthrowing the stereotype with a lively and accessible new music series. It's called Red Sofa, and celebrates its tenth anniversary this week with the six-day Spring Loaded festival. A film concert, a bicycle ride to secret concert venues, a 'pop-up artist,' world premieres, and of course the red three-seater sofa as the center for informal talks before and after the concerts. "I put everything into this festival that makes Red Sofa into Red Sofa," says Programme Director Neil Wallace.

The pop-up artist is the adventurous violinist Monica Germino. She will open the festival and perform a number of interventions. Germino is a fervent admirer of the Red Sofa series: "Neil Wallace has achieved something you also see in modern art museums: people aren't apprehensive, they’re curious and open to new discoveries."

The Red Sofa formula revolves around this curiosity, says Wallace (1953). "We have built a community of interested people who are not afraid of new notes. I’m probably the only new music programmer in the Netherlands who has no worries about what I present – people will come anyway.”

As the pop-up artist, Monica Germino will decide what she will actually play in the moment. It will certainly be soft, because a few years ago Germino was diagnosed as 'sensitive to sound,' which means that her ears are more prone to damage [from high decibel levels]. She had to say goodbye to the high-octane soundtracks and louder works for electric violin, giving up many pieces she had often performed.

She is now "more curious than sad," says Germino. Playing quietly opens up a whole new dimension; and apart from a reflection on silence and listening it can also be "an antidote to the relentless noise of our world." She has amassed a huge collection of mutes (sourdines) and plays a rare 'frame violin' from ca. 1870, an instrument without a sound box which therefore plays at a very low volume. Germino: "Neil wants me to play the frame violin in the Main Hall without any amplification; for me that's a thrill, an adventure." Wallace: "You will hear a pin drop.”

Spring Loaded Festival: 10 years of Red Sofa. 21-26 / 3 De Doelen Rotterdam. Inl . www.dedoelen.nl

Photo: Marco Borggreve