Lincoln Haggart-Ives is one of Canada's top young classical musicians
June 20, 2022
A month before his fourth birthday, Lincoln Haggart-Ives started playing the violin.
For a child’s development, music is beneficial in many ways offering children a sense of well-being while teaching them several skills, including social and cognitive.
Cognizant of this, his parents chose the violin because it is a sizeable instrument.
“We noticed that he had a knack for music and the reason we started him on the violin and not the piano is because he could begin on a quarter size violin which is tiny,” said his mom, Maria Haggart, who is a Middle and Senior School Teacher. “We played music for him before he could even walk or talk. We would play The Beatles and Coldplay. His favourite was Amy Winehouse. He loved her music and he danced around that.”
Originally viewed as a limited instrument until Bach came along and wrote harmonies on a single violin, the Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) Grade 10 student enjoys playing the string device.
“It is probably one of the most beautiful instruments out there,” Haggart-Ives said. “I feel very good when I play it.”
Last year, he made the CBC Top 30 Under-30 list of classical musicians. On April 16, he debuted as a soloist with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra which is celebrating its 100th anniversary. The Young People Concert took place at Roy Thompson Hall.
“It has been my biggest performance so far and I learned a lot,” the French Immersion student said. “It was surreal.”
A Carnegie Hall appearance in 2020 put on hold because of the pandemic is still on his radar.
The Midtown Manhattan concert venue is one of the world’s most prestigious arenas for classical and popular music.
“I sent in his video for a competition and he received an invitation to perform,” said Haggart who was born in England to Jamaican immigrants. “He is still slated to play there, but we are not sure when it will happen.”
In September 2020, he played Jason Couse (Canadian singer/songwriter) music in ‘Goalkeepers 2020: A New Path Forward’ produced by the Bill Gates Foundation.
“I loved working in the studio to make the recording,” said Haggart-Ives who was a feature headliner at Vaughan Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua gala on June 1.
Lincoln Haggart-Ives (Photo by Ron Fanfair)
Besides the violin, he loves composing, playing the recorder and trumpet and listening to modern trap music.
His first composition, ‘Incessant Melancholy’ based on the graphic novel, ‘Maus’ by Art Spiegelman, was done for a school project in Grade Nine. He also collaborated with spoken word artist Dwayne Morgan for a poem, ‘Embrace Joy’.
Three-time Grammy Award winner Hilary Hahn stands on top of the list of global violinists he admires. Renowned for her virtuosity, expansive interpretation and creative programming, she made her orchestral debut with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra at age 11 in 1991.
“Her technique is excellent and she’s very spirited,” said Haggart-Ives. “I feel like I can relate to her and her music.”
Canadian concert violinist James Ehnes, who was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2010, is not far behind.
“I like his sound and enjoy watching him play,” said Haggart-Ives whose favourite subjects are Math and Science. “I look forward to meeting him one day.”
While COVID’s effect on the arts sector has been devastating, positive things came out of the pandemic for some performers, including Haggart-Ives.
Through zoom, he received online lessons from noted orchestral violinist, chamber musician and soloist Yosuke Kawasaki who is the National Arts Centre (NAC) Concertmaster. He also virtually met NAC founding member Elaine Klimaso and Music Director Alexander Shelley.
“The lessons were enriching and I felt like I am friends with these accomplished musicians,” he pointed out.
The meeting with Kawasaki led to National Ballet of Canada Orchestra Concertmaster and Canadian Opera Company Associate Concertmaster Aaron Schwebel becoming Haggart-Ives’ new teacher.
“Yosuke hooked us up with him and I don’t think all of this would have happened had it not being for COVID,” said Haggart.
Mozart sonatas, Beethoven symphonies and Bach partitas appeal to Haggart-Ives who competed in his first local festival at age five
“I feel a deep connection with all of them,” he said.
Haggart-Ives’ family support their son representing classical music as they feel it is important to bring more diversity to the genre.
“We hope that he could inspire other young people of colour by showing them anything is possible,” said Haggart. “Classical music is so homogenous and you rarely see people of colour playing in an orchestra or even in the audience. To keep this kind of music alive, I believe diversification has to take place.”
She her husband, Matt Ives, who was born and raised in England by a British father and mother who migrated from Jamaica, are not surprised that their son is musically inclined.
They exposed him to all forms of music at a young age.
“Because of our cultural roots, we wanted Lincoln to have a taste of everything,” said Ives who played bass guitar in high school and whose dad adored Pink Floyd and The Beatles. “We threw everything at him and he quickly got into the rhythm.”
Maria Haggart & her husband Matt Ives introduced their son to all genres of music at an early age (Photo by Ron Fanfair)
Haggart remembers holding their only child and walking around their home listening to classical music, The Beatles and Bob Marley.
“We played everything for him and he loved it,” she said. “He was always dancing. His just loved Winehouse’s song, ‘Rehab’, so much and he couldn’t get enough of her.”
