The Irving Symphony Orchestra and jazz violinist Scott Tixier are preparing for the debut performance of Tixier's "Symphony of an Immigrant."
"Let's look at Symphony of an Immigrant," Irving Symphony Orchestra Music Director and Maestro Hector Guzman told the orchestra at the "first read" on Thursday night. "Ladies and Gentlemen, would you please welcome our soloist, Scott Tixier? This is his piece and this is a story of his life."
"What I'm trying to do with 'Symphony of an Immigrant' is to show people immigration is not a number; it's not a statistic. It's people," Tixier said. "We all have our version of being an immigrant."
Tixier grew up in a suburb of Paris, France, and moved to New York City when he was 19 years old.
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"I spoke little, no English," Tixier said.
But he was fluent in the language of music.
"The culture of music is a culture on its own. It's beyond the country you're from or even your ethnicity. Everything that is connected to music, kind of like removed all the borders," he said.
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His multimedia symphony is a fusion of jazz and classical, which is both cinematic and intimate. It includes voices from Tixier's past; his grandparents, who were also immigrants, mentors, and his childhood school outside Paris.
Tixier moved to the U.S. with no plan, except to play music and learn. Always learn.
"It took many, many years of being starving and being in the worst situation where I couldn't eat, I couldn't even afford to take the subway," Tixier recalled. "If you really feel that it's something that makes you feel alive, you never give up."
Tixier built a career on improvising. He has five Grammy certificates for work with Hans Zimmer, John Legend, and others. He's also a professor of jazz strings at the University of North Texas.
"When I moved here in America, I had no idea that I would even be 10% of what I'm doing today," Tixier said. "There's something here in America that is really allowing artists to create and make their dreams."
One of Tixier's undergraduate violin students, Joseph Reding, worked with him to orchestrate "Symphony of an Immigrant."
"There's a purpose here for me to try to describe the journey of someone coming from a different country into a new one with new roots," Tixier said. "How do you make it home, leaving your home? Where is home...this is what the piece is about."
"Symphony of an Immigrant" debuts at the Irving Arts Center Carpenter Hall Saturday, Feb. 11 at 7:30 p.m. There are still a few tickets available as of Friday night.
