The Living American

…Listening to The Living American might be likened to the experience of walking through the different neighbourhoods of a major city, with jazz or classical playing here and Indian ragas there.…If anyone's equipped to take on such a project, it's Schwarz. Currently Head of Strings at Rowan University in New Jersey and Visiting Professor of Performance at the London College of Music, the violinist made his solo debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the ripe age of nine and in the years since has established himself as a performer, recording artist, and, obviously, educator. He's long explored the American experience in his work, The Living American arriving almost three decades after his 1995 debut album An American Affair. Schwarz also helped spread the word about American music to numerous foreign countries in his role as an Artistic Ambassador for the United States from 1996 to 2001. It's noteworthy that of the seven composers represented, three are women, Jennifer Higdon, Jessie Montgomery, and Reena Esmail. Whereas the Pulitzer Prize- and three-time Grammy- winning Higdon might be regarded as the quintessential native living American composer of those included, Esmail's as representative of composers who combine elements from different cultures, in her case aspects of Indian and Western classical music…

This new release from multitalented violinist, Timothy Schwarz represents a kind of state of the nation of musical America. It roams from hints of Broadway to jazz to more recognisably classical offerings even managing to take in a musical encounter between America and India.…Schwarz’ charismatic playing is the glue that holds such a disparate programme together and apart from glorious tone and impeccable technique, it is the dynamism of his recreations of these new pieces that sets this disc apart. He is helped enormously by demonstration worthy sound…