Madison Cahoon, a fifth-year music student at the University of Rhode Island, transferred from the Community College of Rhode Island and decided to come to URI to study music more in depth.
Cahoon had an interest in music from a young age. According to her, she started to play the clarinet at age 10. Cahoon’s uncle used to play music from the band Linkin Park, which influenced her music taste. When she was younger, she was involved in guitar ensembles in high school, according to her.
Some of Cahoon’s favorite musical artists include a rock band named King Crimson, the Killers and a guitarist and singer Tim Buckley. Cahoon specifically discussed a composer, Antonín Dvorak, his “New World Symphony,” which is her favorite piece of classical music.
While Cahoon is most known for her violin skills, she is also a jack of all trades when it comes to musical instruments. She can play the piano, the saxophone, the clarinet and the guitar. The violin is her favorite instrument to play, and it is the instrument that she’s played the longest.
Cahoon said she started playing the violin on a quarter-sized violin, which helped pique her interest in playing the violin and led to her decision to study it in college.
She explained the struggles of playing the violin and the struggles of studying music.
One of Cahoon’s biggest struggles is that she tends to constantly compare herself to others who play the same instruments.
“It has been a struggle for me,” she said. “I was actually in physical therapy because of the tension in my playing.”
Professors and teachers were also a big part of Cahoon’s musical journey. Her former violin teacher at CCRI, Sherri Markwood and Ann Danis, who led the orchestra at URI before retiring recently in the spring of 2022, have been influential in her life. Danis is Cahoon’s current violin professor at URI, who she is getting to know better but has loved so far. All these mentors have influenced Cahoon for the better in her musical journey.
Her senior violin recital occurred on Sunday in the Fine Arts Center. The first piece of music Cahoon played was named “Gigue” from Bach’s “Partita No.2 in D Minor.”
“ I chose this piece because I love the partitas and sonatas that Bach wrote, and the Gigue is one of the more accessible movements for a player of my ability,” Cahoon said.
The second piece Cahoon performed at her recital was “ Romance No. 2 in F major” by Beethoven.
“It is incredibly beautiful and probably the most difficult piece that I can play,” Cahoon said.
The third piece Cahoon chose to perform was Antonín Dvorak’s “Sonatina in G major” for violin and piano.
“ This piece has 4 movements and they are all of different characters and they are so fun to play and listen to,” Cahoon said. They were my chance to have fun on stage and not stress so much about technical challenges.”
The last and final piece Cahoon performed was “ Youkali — Tango Habanera” by Kurt Weill.
“This piece was very new territory and was given to me as an option by my previous teacher before she retired,” Cahoon said. “It was very challenging and featured a lot of playing in high positions on the low string, which is extremely difficult and awkward. I wanted to play this for that reason, and because it was something not in the standard violin repertoire that not everybody has heard a million times.”
Cahoon intends to complete her studies at URI in music, while keeping her focus on her violin-playing technique.