SARAH PLUM
Press & Critical Acclaim
Concise highlights from recordings and live performances by violinist Sarah Plum, drawn from international press.
Featured Quotes
“A must have for everyone who loves meaningful sonic adventures.”
— Whole Note Magazine
“A beguilingly imaginative and far-ranging programme.”
— Gramophone Magazine
“Riveting… wholly listenable, accessible, and arresting.”
— Textura Magazine
“Challenging and exciting… many works written specifically for Plum and recorded here for the first time.”
— CD Hotlist
“Deft and astonishing throughout.”
— Ear Relevant
“This forward-thinking fiddler obliterates all clichés that litter the genre.”
— Midwest Record Review
Selected Album Reviews
Whole Note Magazine
This fantastic new release by an ardent proponent of the contemporary violin repertoire, violinist Sarah Plum, is a must have for everyone who loves meaningful sonic adventures. Distinct melodies and elements of beauty are present throughout. Layers upon layers of textures and colours make the music rich, dreamy, sometimes unpredictable, sometimes probing. Sarah Plum offers complex yet conceptually clear interpretations of these works. Her distinct style of playing allows for passion and lyricism in one bow stroke, a perfect personal noise.
Gramophone Magazine
Plum’s remarkably expansive palette of conventional and avant-garde techniques intensifies the pleasure of discography across these fascinatingly varied soundscapes. A slim discography barely hints at violinist Sarah Plum’s prolific career as a new music specialist but confirms her engagingly adventurous sensibility.
Textura Magazine
In her discography and concert performances, the Chicago-based violinist has established herself as a forward-thinking advocate for contemporary composers and their works, and this new sixty-five-minute collection embodies that splendidly. Plum's performance is riveting, the achievement impressing all-the-more for being executed solo. Like Plum's other recordings, Personal Noise presents challenging material that's nevertheless wholly listenable, accessible, and arresting. One comes away from the release with great admiration for Plum as both intrepid new music champion and a violin virtuoso.
An Earful (Best of 2022, so far)
I worried that I would have trouble keep up with Plum’s boundless curiosity and tireless efforts to expand the violin repertoire… this colorful, varied and passionate album was worth the wait. Plum sails through it all flawlessly, once again proving that close collaboration with composers and deep engagement with the work is a recipe for artistic success.
CD Hotlist
Sarah Plum’s album is something else entirely, a challenging and exciting program consisting primarily of contemporary works for violin and electronics, many written specifically for Plum and recorded here for the first time.
Violinist.com
Sarah Plum spends much of her time championing new music, commissioning composers and bringing contemporary music to a wider audience, and here is one result, an album of works for violin and electronics.
Ear Relevant
Plum’s playing is deft and astonishing throughout; one easily forgets that the performance was to a recording. Although seemingly narrowly premised on solo violin with electronics, the works on this CD show the range of expressive possibility when the performer has mastered the work.
Midwest Record Review
Plum fills the bill for modern classical music, fusing violin and electronics and commissioning new works for world premieres. This forward-thinking fiddler obliterates all clichés that litter the genre, proving that Mozart can only carry the genre for so long.
Music for a New Century — Press Highlights
“An important addition to the contemporary violin concerto discography.”
— The Whole Note Magazine
Plum is a fine example of the activist performer, having commissioned nearly a dozen compositions in the last three years alone. Plum's playing is exemplary throughout, with a level of comfort that allows the listener to concentrate fully on the music.
— anearful.com
Live Performance Reviews
“Hypnotic and mesmerizing.”
— feastofmusic.com
“Consistently stunning… entrancing… commanding attention from first note to last.”
— thirdcoastdigest.com
“An adventurous indie violinist.”
— New York Classical Music
“Extraordinary, meaningful and magnificent music.”
— Berliner Tageszeitung
Absconditus
This CD is comprised of selections thoughtfully chosen and lovingly performed by Sarah Plum. Absconditus is a gem; each piece is precious. Lovely, plaintive, and gorgeous playing.
— American Record Guide (11/28/2011)