"The Fiddler in the Cave" A New York Times feature article today on Mark O'Connor (composer, violinist and author). Includes photos!

(Photo by James Estrin/The New York Times)

The career of Mark O’Connor, who won the Grand Master Fiddler Championship at age 13, has included his years as a much-sought-after session musician in Nashville, as a composer and as an educator. His “Improvised Violin Concerto” will have its premiere this spring, and he continues to write new volumes of the O’Connor Violin Method, an American-themed alternative to the Suzuki approach. Although he is often on the road or at a country house in Pennsylvania with his partner — also a string player — and their daughter, New York City is his base. On Sundays, Mr. O’Connor, 51, concentrates on writing and composing in his “cave,” an apartment on West 57th Street.

By SARAH HARRISON SMITH
Published: January 5, 2013

(Photo by James Estrin/The New York Times)

"I have a YouTube channel, so I scan the Internet for my favorite videos, and I’ve made different playlists. I’m stealing back my own content. I call it “social fiddle justice...”

(Photo by James Estrin/The New York Times)

“Once in a while when I get discouraged, I’m reminded of the fact that the great composer Bela Bartok lived right next door. I feel his presence.”