Kicking off Tremors Festival, Erin James infuses music with her passion for fashion

The violinist’s Fantasy Vignettes interweaves Baroque music, costume changes, and sewing machines

By John Lucas

Erin James.

As part of the Tremolo: Tremors Festival Launch Party, Little Chamber Music and Rumble Theatre present Fantasy Vignettes on May 25 at 7 pm at Progress Lab 1422

ON PAPER, THE DISCIPLINES of classical music and fashion design might not seem to have much in common. These two worlds merge seamlessly, however, in Fantasy Vignettes, a performance conceived by violinist Erin James. 

Thematically, the program is rooted in fantasies (also known as fantasias), those musical flights of imagination and improvisation that don’t fit squarely into any particular compositional style. James has selected such works spanning 400 years, from the Baroque period to the present day, including pieces by Robert Schumann, Florence Price, and Arnold Schoenberg.

So it’s not exactly a pop concert, but there will be costume changes. Over the course of Fantasy Vignettes, James wears four different outfits that she has designed and constructed herself.

“For a long time they were very separate,” the Calgary-born, Vancouver-raised James says when Stir sits down for an interview with her at a Strathcona café on a typically drizzly May afternoon. “Violin was my career, and sewing and design was something I did on the side. There’s a couple of things at play. I think a big thing for me is the accessibility piece. I’m really interested in bringing a visual element to a performance, so this program has been fun for me because each of the outfits reflects—and, I hope, dialogues with—the music that I’ve programmed. So, even the early fantasies, where they would have been improvised in small segments, I’ve sort of mirrored that with my costume. It’s not a Baroque, historical costume. It’s not authentic whatsoever, but it does have reference points.”

In a follow-up email, James further explains that she used Schumann’s characters Florestan and Eusebius as a jumping-off point to explore societal notions of what constitutes “masculine” and “feminine” presentation: “I portray this split personality wearing an outfit that is half tailcoat and trousers similar to what Robert would have worn, and half gown such as his wife and accomplished pianist and composer, Clara Schumann, might have donned.” 

James’s costume for the Schoenberg pieces combines her musical knowledge with colour theory and geometry: “To represent the 12-tone hexachordal structure of Schoenberg’s piece, I have combined 12 colour tones of sheer fabric into 144 differently coloured patchwork hexagons in rows to draw attention to the ways that humans strive to piece together meanings and liberate their existences,” she reveals via email.

If it wasn’t clear by now, it bears noting that, although she clearly has fun bringing these ideas to life, her interest in both music and fashion is academic, in the best possible way.

James holds a master’s degree from the Royal College of Music in London and a degree in fashion design from George Brown College in Toronto. She recently completed her doctorate in violin studies at the University of Alberta. In fact, Fantasy Vignettes was her doctoral project. 

James (who is now based in Montreal) will perform Fantasy Vignettes as part of the launch party for this year’s Tremors Festival. Joining her are pianist Todd Yaniw and composer Mari Alice Conrad, who is credited with “narration, sewing machine, and accessories”.

Yes, you read that correctly. In Fabricated Fantasies, Conrad operates a pair of sewing machines. As James explains, the piece—which Conrad composed—has four movements.

“In the first one, the sewing machine just acts very much as a sort of tempo-keeper, and she uses a very old machine, so it’s quite rattly,” the violinist says. “Then she uses the buzz of a more modern sewing machine. She takes that sound and then she has a piano in the background make similar sounds to that; sort of a more muted version. Those are the two that have sewing machines in them. Mari Alice plays the sewing machines as a member of the ensemble, then the other ones are more accessory-based.”

Those movements involve clothespins and zippers; exactly how these are employed, well, you’ll just have to see that for yourself. We can’t spoil all the surprises.

It’s tempting to think of Fantasy Vignettes as the inevitable culmination of James’s twin passions for music and fashion. The truth is, though, that it really represents the very beginning of a journey rather than the end of one.

“At one point in my life I was really wondering if I still wanted to do music,” James admits. “I think it was through that wondering about my life that I ended up having that in the back of my mind when I was thinking about a project to do for my doctorate that I would actually enjoy.”

And having reached that milestone, what’s next for the newly minted doctor of music? Competition-based reality TV, of course. Yes, really,

“Canada has just brought back Project Runway!” James says. “I don’t know if you know that show. I would love to be on that show at some point in time. I can’t do it this summer, but I think that would be such a fun time.”  

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