Violinist Geneva Lewis makes recording debut with all-American program

Violinist Geneva Lewis, a former BBC New Generation Artist, has built her first recording for the Delos label around a program of exclusively American composers. She is joined by conductor Gemma New, a fellow New Zealander, leading the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in what is described as a performance marked by genuine mutual understanding between soloist and conductor.

Three contrasting works

The album opens with Samuel Barber's violin concerto, given what the review calls an airy, poetic treatment that leans into the work's lyrical, pastoral character while highlighting the rhythmic "scotch snap" of the opening movement. The orchestra carries forward a recurring Celtic motif that builds toward an energetic finale resembling a highland fling. Lewis's playing is described as warm and emotionally rich — aching in the allegro and andante movements, then spirited and folk-inflected in the finale.

The second piece, John Zorn's "Partita for the Firebird," reimagines a baroque-style suite through a modernist lens, including a lively courante with echoes of American hoedown music alongside subtle nods to Stravinsky's ballet "The Firebird." Here Lewis's technical command is on full display, with precise double-stop passages and delicate, whisper-quiet playing at the instrument's highest register.

The third work, Philip Glass's Violin Concerto No. 1, written in memory of the composer's father, was his first major composition for a standard symphony orchestra. The review notes that somewhat dense orchestral textures make it harder for the soloist to stand out in this piece, yet New's conducting produces an exhilarating overall performance, with Lewis's silvery tone proving especially haunting in the reflective slow movement.

The recording is available for streaming on Apple Music and Spotify.