“Rock ‘n’ roll was Ljubomir Velickovic’s teenage passion. Maybe not as inspiring as classical violinist Jascha Heifetz, but Velickovic still plays Beatles tunes with his Divertimento Chamber Group,” writes Tony Sauro in Thursday’s (11/7) Record (Stockton, California). “ ‘It represented democracy to us,’ Velickovic said of Western music’s influence in [his native] Yugoslavia.… Velickovic, a member of the Stockton Symphony, still plays his violin that way. He and his Divertimento Chamber Group mix the Beatles with Latin pop, tangos, ‘La Bamba,’ Leroy Anderson’s ‘String Quartet,’ Scott Joplin-style ragtime and ‘other little things’ during a one-hour concert tonight at The Haggin Museum in Stockton…. . He learned by playing a metal violin and, as a teenager, left Belgrade, Yugoslavia (now Serbia), to escape the ruling Communist Party’s stifling politics…. ‘We live in a new era. The audience wants some combination of different styles. They’re very attractive,’ Velickovic said of Beatles tunes. ‘They have classical harmonies with … swing, jazz and blues in them. The audience … wants to participate, too.’ Velickovic does that in two chamber groups, the Stockton Symphony and Sacramento Philharmonic.”
Posted November 8, 2013
