The sweet, melodic strains of a Stradivarius fill the concert hall as Alexi Kenney, 24, plays his violin along with the rest of the orchestra. His eyes close as he intently focuses on the melody.

Kenney is a critically acclaimed violinist studying in the Artist Diploma program at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. He received a bachelor’s degree in music from the same university.  He started to play the violin at the age of four. Currently, Kenney is performing on tour with the Musicians from Marlboro and Musicians from Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute programs.

“We have five hours of rehearsal,” Kenney said. “Other weeks, I’ll be playing concertos with orchestras, which requires a lot more practice by myself.”

Kenney plays a Stradivarius, a rare violin built in 1714 by the Stradivari family. His violin was owned by the famous Hungarian virtuoso Joseph Joachim and was the violin with which with Joachim premiered Brahms Violin Concerto in 1879. Kenney currently plays this repertoire with the same violin.

“It’s crazy to think about what this violin has played in its lifetime and also what it’s been around, the kind of creative testers that it’s been,” Kenney said. “It’s inspiring to play something with such a history behind it, and not to mention the sound of it—it’s gorgeous. The sound is hard to describe what makes it different; it’s almost richer, it sounds with more of [a] warmth and a glow to the sound. It’s very special.”

Due to the competitive nature of the field of music, Kenney experienced obstacles on his journey to becoming a professional violinist due to disappointment he experienced when he failed to qualify past the first round of competitions or did not receive a prize.

“I always found that music would re-center me after whatever disappointment,” Kenney said. “I would have a period of sulking, or moping, and then I would reconnect to why I do this in the first place.”

Kenney has performed at a number of other events, including recitals at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and Napa’s Festival del Sole. He performs both individually as a soloist with orchestras and as a member of a string quintet.

“Only occasionally I totally lose myself in the music, which is a crazy experience. It’s only happened to me like twice in my life, and once was with this Schubert piece, the most transcending piece there is,” Kenney said. “For some reason, the stars were aligned that day. All five of us felt like we were on the same wavelength, and we completely lost ourselves and didn’t even realize that we were performing, and as soon as we started, it felt like it ended already. It was just one of the incredible experiences that happens once.”

This piece was originally published in the pages of The Winged Post on March 28, 2017.