A new series for Bell House in Your Home featuring Q&A interviews with young up and coming musicians from the local area. Learn about their work and enjoy a recorded performance!
Part 1: 82 Degrees
Ada Witczyk and Mark Walkem from 82 Degrees
Meet 82 Degrees – a violin/cello duo who perform on period instruments. Their name is derived from the compass direction from Birmingham, where cellist Mark Walkem trained, to Poznan in Poland where violinist Ada Witczyk studied before coming to the UK. They met during one of the Belsize Baroque Orchestra projects as scholars and continued playing together.
What first got you interested in music?
Ada: My mother, who graduated from primary music school in Poland, would play some simple melodies for me on her cello. Apparently only that would stop me from running around ;)
Mark: I’m from a musical family. My parents met playing music together, and there was always music in the house when I was growing up: my mother’s piano, violin and guitar students, my brother practising, and a love of radio, CDs and records. My father and my older brother also play the cello, so there have always been a number of cello cases in our house!
How would you describe the music that you typically create or perform?
A: I’ve been trained as a classical violinist so I mostly performed pieces by composers from the baroque to romantic periods. I play on both modern and baroque violin. Modern violins have metal strings, use a shoulder rest and chin-rest and on the baroque violin I play on gut strings and use a much shorter bow which is shaped somewhat like an arch.
M: As a cellist, I play a wide variety of music from that of the renaissance and baroque to present-day pop songs! With 82 Degrees, we specialise in music for violin and cello from the 17th and 18th century. These pieces are often highly decorative and elegant.
Who would you most like to collaborate with?
A: I love the learning process, so I absolutely enjoy all the different styles and ways of playing. We don’t get to collaborate with other art forms as often as with other musicians so it would be extremely interesting for me to create a cross-art form with painters, writers and dancers. In fact this is why we worked with some film makers to create the Biber video that we premiered at Bell House last season (which you can watch here) as a way of exploring a different mode of presenting the music.
M: Making the Biber video was a great experience, and we were so happy with the result! I also like to collaborate with singers, as I find vocal texts provide a rich source of inspiration.
What music is inspiring you right now?
A: During my free time I enjoy listening to Latin music as a way of refreshing the mind. I also love listening to film music by composers such James Newton Howard (who wrote the music for classic Hollywood productions such as The Prince of Tides) and 1960s Broadway Musicals.
M: Recently I’ve been listening to José González. His mellow, soulful guitar/vocals is such a tonic to the current uncertainties in the world. I’ve also been watching a lot of the Berlin Philharmonic’s Digital Concert Hall – including recent concerts with their principal conductor Kirill Petrenko, and archive recordings with Claudio Abbado.
Have you been making music during lockdown? If yes, what have you been doing?
A: I have continued teaching – online. Please follow the website below to get in touch!
M: I have also been teaching my cello and double bass students online. It has been a rewarding experience, although I’m not used to staring at a screen all day!
What’s been the hardest thing about lockdown for you as a musician?
A: I had very exciting projects coming up and they all have been cancelled.
M: Similarly, lots of cancellations, from Easter concerts to Summer festivals. Nevertheless, we are fortunate to be in good health and look forward to being able to perform again in the future.
Where would you like to be in 10 years’ time?
A: Hopefully still learning!
M: Continuing to enjoy a rich and varied musical diet, and passing my enthusiasm on to others.
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To see more of Ada and Mark’s work, check out the links to the 82 Degrees on Instagram, Youtube, and Facebook as well as the 82 Degrees website or Ada’s website.