14 Premieres for Unaccompanied Violin on the MSR Classics label 

“Dan Flanagan is a true Renaissance man… an excellent violinist, versatile enough to serve as a blank canvas (in the best sense) for the diverse styles of all the composers. His generosity and intelligence informed the entire program, and his own compositions affirmed his talent and virtuosity.” -New York Concert Reviews

Featuring  works by composers Edmund Campion, Cindy Cox, Shinji Eshima, Dan Flanagan, Jose Gonzalez Granero, Peter Josheff, Libby Larsen, Linda Marcel, Jessica Mays, Evan Price, James Stephenson, Nathaniel Stookey, and Trevor Weston

JUNE 2023 – American violinist-composer Dan Flanagan releases his album, The Bow and The Brush, a collection of 14 premieres for unaccompanied violin, on the MSR Classics label. Available at msrcd.com/catalog/cd/MS1836 and at all major online download and streaming sites.

The Bow and the Brush is Flanagan’s unique and exciting  project of commissioning and composing music inspired by paintings and sculptures. 

“When the pandemic shutdown began and we were all stuck at home, like so many musicians, I spent my time playing solo pieces on my violin. I felt happier than most because I did this while looking at the dozens of paintings on my walls I had gathered over many years. Combining the two was an inevitability. I began composing pieces inspired by these paintings, then commissioning my favorite composers to do the same. The feelings I experience when viewing a painting or hearing music seem to be generated from the same place, and therefore feel connected. The colors of paint relate to the colors of tone, and the texture of brush strokes relate to the articulation of bow strokes. Although I hadn’t planned on doing anything like this before the Covid shutdown, it now seems like the obvious result of my life thus far. I am particularly happy to be spreading the work of living composers and artists, performing these pieces everywhere I can.” – Dan Flanagan

Recorded in July and August 2022 in Hertz Hall at the University of California at Berkeley, the recording is produced, engineered, edited and mastered by David v.R. Bowles, Swineshead Productions, LLC.

Pictured are all of the composers commissioned for The Bow and the Brush project. Some of their works will appear in the upcoming Volume 2 album.

WORKS INCLUDE:
Shadow Breaking by Nathaniel Stookey, painting by Rachel Dwan
Cadenza II by José González Granero, painting by Robert Antoine Pinchon
The Collection by Shinji Eshima,  painting by Paul Gibson
Raven’s Dance by Linda Marcel, painting by Nina Fabunmi
Into the Light by Cindy Cox, painting by Victoria Veedell
Blue Swan by Evan Price, sculpture by Sean O’Donnell
The Only Way Through is Slow by Libby Larsen,  painting by Nikki Vismara
Guillaumin by Jim Stephenson, pastel drawing by Armand Guillaumin
And miles to go…  by Jessica Mays, painting by Albert Malet
Monterey Sentinels by Dan Flanagan, painting by Joaquin Turner
Notre Dame au milieu de l’eau et du ciel by Trevor Weston,  painting by Albert-Marie Lebourg
Splits (Le Grand Écart) by Edmund Campion, pastel drawing by Ludovic-Rodo Pissarro
Same Old Sadness by Peter Josheff, painting by Peter Canty
An Animated Street in Autumn by Dan Flanagan, painting by Jean-François Raffaëlli

DAN FLANAGAN (see full bio at danflanaganviolin.com) has built a multifaceted career as a soloist and orchestral musician, performing concertos with orchestras in California and recitals throughout the United States and Europe. Flanagan currently serves as Concertmaster of the Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera, Concertmaster of West Edge Opera, and Instructor of Violin at University of California, Berkeley.  Described as an “excellent violinist” (New York Concert Reviews), “stellar musician” (Nevada Reviews) and “superior violinist” (Piedmont Post), he has been praised for his “exquisite tones” and “forthright brio” (Sacramento Bee), and his “solos were excellent” (San Francisco Classical Voice).  

The 2022-23 season includes solo recitals in New York City, San Francisco, Berkeley, Oakland, Sacramento, Houston, Los Angeles, San Diego, Chicago, Rome, Perugia, London, Bordeaux, and Paris.  His program, The Bow and the Brush, includes 23 newly composed solo violin pieces inspired by paintings and sculptures.  16 of these pieces were premiered at Opera America’s National Opera Center in New York City on October 3rd, 2022.  Several of these compositions can be seen on his Youtube channel (recommended by KDFC, The Strad, and SF Classical Voice) and heard on his album, The Bow and the Brush, which was released by MSR Classics in March, 2023. He will perform the program at Carnegie Hall in March of 2024.

A dedicated orchestral player, Flanagan has performed as concertmaster with the Oakland Symphony, Santa Rosa Symphony, California Symphony, California Musical Theater, Festival Opera of Walnut Creek, Symphony San Jose, Modesto Symphony, Opera Parallèle, Merced Symphony and Symphony Napa Valley.  He performs regularly with the San Francisco Opera and Ballet and records film, video game, and television soundtracks with the Skywalker Symphony Orchestra. Frequently featured as soloist with the Sacramento Philharmonic and Modesto Symphony, Flanagan has also performed with the American River Chamber Orchestra, Bear Valley Symphony, Reno Baroque Ensemble, UC Davis Symphony, UC Berkeley Symphony, and the Adelphi Chamber Orchestra.  

In addition to promoting living composers and artists of diverse backgrounds, Dan is passionate about helping his community.  He regularly features his art collection to host fundraisers for charities and collect supplies that he passes out at homeless encampments.  Past fundraisers include Puerto Rico Relief Fund, California Fire Relief Fund, Berkeley Food and Housing Project, No Kill Advocacy Center, Hunters Point Shipyard Artists, InterMusic SF, and LymeDisease.org. 

Photo by Russ Gold.