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Photo provided by Fly Kugin This week's featured artist is Fly Kugin, an immensely talented violin player who injects a classical flair to jazz, rock, pop, and music from all over the world. She enjoys both solo performances as well as dual-streams with many talented SL performers. For more information and to hear her music, check out her official website and SoundCloud Q: When/how did you hear about Second Life? A: I discovered Second Life five and a half years ago. I had a new laptop and was searching for games. I discovered an advertisement on the internet about Second Life, so I downloaded the viewer and created an account. It happened by accident via the internet. Q: At what age did you start playing violin, and do you play any other instruments? A: I was at a fine arts high school when I started playing the violin and have been playing since then. At the same time I also started playing the piano. In addition to the violin and the piano, I can also play the flute and the ukulele. Q: Are there any aspects of playing the violin that are specific to this instrument and not found in other string instruments? A: I was at high school when I started playing the piano and violin, as I stated above, and in the beginning the violin was harder for me to play than the piano. This is because I had experience with the piano in middle school. I had a small keyboard and was playing melodies and the piano was initially my first musical passion. At the beginning of my professional classical music education in high school, my main instrument was the violin and everyone in my class had to play the piano. I still loved to play the piano at the time, as I was more familiar with the violin, but one cannot get the sounds as easily on the violin than on the piano. But my high school violin teacher started to give me very emotional pieces to play. An example of such a piece is Pietry Illyric Tchaikovski's "G Minor Canzonetta." This particular classical piece went straight to my heart and was so emotional. After this, I started to practice the violin more. Within four years I realized my violin skills had improved very much. I applied to university with the violin as my piece for the entrance exam to the music program, and I passed! At this point, the violin was my main passion. In music I really cannot compare any instrument, but I was wrong because you have to be patient with instruments. I was not patience with the violin, so in the beginning the piano was my main piece and I practiced it more. I believe that there is no instrument that is harder than any other: all instruments can be played if you have time, patience, and are willing to make the sacrifices necessary to learn the instrument. Q: What are some of your favorite songs to cover on the violin? A: There are too many to count and name! But there are a few that I feel really passionate about. These pieces are: Lara Fabian's "Je T'aime," Queen's "Show Must Go On," Tomaso Albinoni's "Adagio," and Lucio Dalla's "Caruso." I am always adding new covers, but I cannot ever stop playing these four pieces. Q: Tell us about your creative process as it pertains to instrumental music, like how you convey ideas and feelings without words. A: This is hard to explain, as it is about feeling. For example, if the song is about losing someone, I put myself into the song so to speak and I think about a time when I have lost someone and put that emotion into playing that particular piece. If the song is a funny song, I remember a time when I was having fun as a child and put that particular feeling. My feelings are reflected with my violin fingers when playing. Music is a reflection of feeling, so the audience will feel the pieces as well. If I feel happy I will play happy music, If I am sad then the music I am playing is sad. Q: What is the most meaningful aspect of the SL music community to you? A: For me the most meaningful aspect of the SL community is the music. Because music is life for me. Music is the place or object where I realize I am real when I am in Second Life. Music makes me feel so alive. I could make music in any location or in any time zone, but Second Life provides a great opportunity for me to share my music to strangers and friends who are around the world. This is important because there are so many people around the world who have different perspectives about music, so getting appreciation from many people from different backgrounds and cultures gives me confidence and makes me very happy. Thank you, Flyqueen! If you or someone you know would like to submit content for Music Mondays, please fill out this form.