December 2, 2005, Friday

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. P6A
HEADLINE: Violinist shares future of strings
BYLINE: Paul J. Nyden


pjnyden@wvgazette.com

It's safe to say that none of the students at Horace Mann Middle School had ever seen a violinist like Mark Wood before.

Wood, sometimes billed as the world's first heavy-metal violinist, is touring with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, which performed at the Charleston Civic Center Thursday night.

Before that, Wood answered questions from the students, seated on the gymnasium floor around his instruments and speaker system. The students seemed particularly impressed by the incredible range of notes and sounds Wood's instruments produce.

Wood, who has been playing stringed instruments for 25 years, told students to appreciate all kinds of music, from rap to classical, from rock 'n' roll to country-and-western and jazz.

The pieces he played for the students combined music from classical composers like Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven, to modern artists like Jimi Hendrix, Van Halen and the Beatles, to rappers like Nas.

"J.S. Bach was not a great rapper," Wood joked, "but he was a great composer."

He told students about his new violin, comparing it to a traditional violin he also carries.

"This is the future," he said, holding up his Y-shaped fretted violin, called the "Viper."

Hooked into a sound system, Wood's Viper has four strings that sound like a traditional violin. It also has three other strings: a C-string that sounds like a viola, an F-string like a cello and a B-flat string like a bass.

Wood created the stringed instruments he plays, which also include a Viper Cello, a Stingray and a Sabre.

He ended his live performance at the school by playing a regular violin, outlined in bright blue lights.

The Trans-Siberian Orchestra, his group, has joined heavy metal with Christmas music and already put out four CDs, the latest of which is "The Lost Christmas Eve." Live performances typically feature bright stage lights, fog machines and fires.

Wood also told students that he would be featured in a new Pepsi commercial to be aired during the 2006 Super Bowl.

Wood was a student at the prestigious Julliard School of Music in New York City, studied under New York Philharmonic Conductor Leonard Bernstein and has since won various awards, including an Emmy.

Wood came to Horace Mann because it has the largest stringed instrument program of any school in the state, said Principal Mickey Blackwell.

Teacher Ian Jessee directs the school's string orchestra.

To contact staff writer Paul J. Nyden, use e-mail or call 348-5164.