Lindsey Stirling: Violin Extraordinaire

By: Evelyn Bleu

Lindsey Stirling was born on September 21, 1986, in Santa Ana, California. As a child, her family was not wealthy and unable to afford full violin lessons. She was repeatedly told that no child could learn how to play the violin without a complete lesson plan. Despite this, her parents did not give up and enrolled her in incomplete music classes at the ripe young age of five. Although the violin held a special place in her heart, she also loved dancing and wanted to take dance lessons. However, she was not able to do so because her family could not afford both violin and dance classes. Because of this, she had to choose and she decided on the violin. At the age of sixteen, while living in Arizona, Stirling created a band with four of her friends and wrote a rock violin song for this band. This song led to her winning Arizona Junior Miss and the Spirit Award in America’s Junior Miss finals. In 2010, Stirling, at age 23, auditioned for America’s Got Talent and was accepted. She played music that was dubbed hip-hop and danced while playing the violin. She progressed onto the quarterfinals but was then eliminated. Though she was distraught, Stirling did not give up and began posting music videos on YouTube which rapidly amassed attention. Stirling went on to win multiple awards for her songs and has completed multiple world tours. She has been recognized as a notable person by Forbes. She incorporates dubstep into her music and a number of her albums have become top electronic songs.

One of my favorite albums of hers is entitled Shatter Me. The entire album is progressive and modern. It is filled with collaborations. A few of them are with Lzzy Hale and Dia Frampton. Lzzy Hale is a fellow musician and performer, while Dia Frampton is a singer and a songwriter. The album was released on April 25, 2014, receiving critical acclaim and reaching number two on the Billboard charts.

A song from the album that I enjoyed is “Beyond the Veil.” The pinpoint placement of vibrato in the song creates an otherworldly feeling that draws you in and makes you keep listening. You can feel the drama from each bow stroke as she moves, and the high, keening notes sound just as full as the lowest notes. The title accurately reflects the piece—the tone feels otherworldly. Her movements as she plays show the level of depth in her playing and how enthralled she is by the music. Her dancing is not a showy kind; rather, it is more of a reaction to the music and the emotions she feels through it. Her use of staccato is mind-blowing. She uses legato to accentuate long bows and staccato to bring out the fast phrases in the piece. She has no scratchiness and her transitions are done with ease.

Lindsey Stirling is an amazing musician and composer. Those two words do not sum her up, though. The word that I feel correctly describes her playing is “artist”. She paints a picture with her music. Her notes are words without speech or writing that tell a story to any listener’s ears. She defied all odds as a child and became a superstar. One of the reasons I most admire her is that she has not allowed one negative experience to stop her from progressing her career.