An Appalachian waltz, a Bach partita, a humorous Polka and a haunting Cambodian melody all met last night on the stage of the Ethical Culture Society.   It’s all part of Mark O’Connor’s fiddle camp, making its long-awaited debut in NYC.
     The acclaimed multi-grammy award winning violinist and composer has brought some of the top string players in the world to come and teach here — and to play.  It’s a long-held dream of the softspoken O’Connor, who told the audience last night that it took him five years and much planning to bring the camp — and the artists here. He has other camps as well — one near Nashville and the other in San Diego — but it was NYC that was the Big Dream for him.
    Each night O’Connor plays — and then so do his students.  Most of them are just kids — but they play like unpretentious fiddle geniuses — mixing Led Zeppelin and old-timey bluegrass with some Bach and jazz mixed in.
    Then O’Connor brings out the teachers.
     Last night there was Classical Violinist Lara St. John who played a soul-gutting Bach Partita. The cellist Maya Beiser played a piece by a Cambodian composer entitled ‘Four Strings’ dedicated to those lost in that country’s genocide. And then there was Manjunath. He turned his violin upside down like a Cello before his astonishing performance of Ragas mixed in with Led Zeppelin. And just before he did so — he told us — “Music is a Wonderful Thing.’
     There are more performances. On Thursday, July 30 — Sara Caswell, Rachel Calin, Daniel Carwile and Yale Strom will perform. On Friday, DBR — a hiphop violinist; Philippe Quint and Kenji Bunch will all be there, starting at 7 p.m — and they are free.