Violin star Stefan Jackiw re-teams with Rafael Payare and the San Diego Symphony
When asked if the life of a touring solo artist has any drawbacks, internationally acclaimed violin star Stefan Jackiw agrees and disagrees.
"In some ways, it's a very difficult life," the Boston-born musician said. "There's a lot of pressure. You spend a lot of time by yourself on the road, a lot of time away from home.
"But, for me, it's an enormously fulfilling life."
After serving his third year as artistic director of the Hawaii Chamber Music Festival, which ends today, Jackiw will perform Friday at the San Diego Symphony's summer season opening weekend at the orchestra's outdoor bayside concert venue, The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park.
His last time playing here with the symphony was in late February 2020. Music and Artistic Director Rafael Payare remembers that concert well.
"It was our last performance before the pandemic shutdown," recalled Payare. "And it was our last performance in front of an audience of the old Copley Symphony Hall."
Payare also recalls being in his home country of Venezuela about 30 years ago and hearing Jackiw soloing with the New England Conservatory Orchestra. Payare, who conducted Jackiw in Cleveland in 2021, is looking forward to teaming with him here at The Shell.
"When Stefan is playing, he conveys a message and it's very convincing," Payare said. "He's very passionate … beside the fact that his level of playing is super, super, super high. He's attentive, easy to follow. It's always a joy to play with him."
At Friday's concert, Shostakovich's Festive Overture and Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony will bookend Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 2, which will feature Jackiw (pronounced Jacques-EEV).
‘I never get bored'
A faculty member at Mannes School of Music, Jackiw will also start teaching this fall at Robert McDuffie Center for Strings in Macon, Georgia.
"I love the repertoire that I practice every single day. I love playing the violin," he said, speaking from his home in New York City.
"The mechanics of playing the violin feels like solving a puzzle. Not completely, but I have a say about what I'm going to play and when I'm going to play it. I like that I can decide my own schedule and what work I'm going to take on."
He thrives on being a guest soloist with orchestras around the world.
"In some ways, I enjoy the pressure of getting up on stage and playing a very difficult concerto in front of 1,000 or 2,000 people," Jackiw said.
"Some parts of that pressure I find unpleasant, but I never get bored. There's always new music to learn. I love listening, playing and putting music together with other people. It's a hard life, but it's a fun life."
Jackiw, 41, is an avid runner. He lives with his wife, clarinetist Yoonah Kim, and their cockapoo, Ludwig Woof Beethoven. The couple's wedding took place in Manhattan's Central Park in 2020.
"Getting married grounded me in a really positive way," he said. "Even though I'm on the road, I have someone special who's in New York and will be there when I'm home. That is really life-changing."
Jackiw started playing at the age of 4 after his family was given a small violin. His physicist parents recognized his talent and encouraged it. His mother is Korean; his father, who died in 2023, was Ukrainian.
‘Joyful and uplifting'
Along with his home life, Jackiw has a side project that helps compensate for what his solo career may lack.
Junction Trio was established in 2015 by Jackiw, pianist Conrad Tao and cellist Jay Campbell. The trio plays a mix of traditional and contemporary classical music.
"Junction Trio only plays together about two weeks per year, so it's a short but intense period," Jackiw said. "We do a lot of concerts in those two weeks and it's really fun. Because, as I mentioned, usually I'm travelling alone, but now I'm traveling with two of my friends.
"As a soloist, the majority of the work I do is playing concertos that are part of the standard repertoire. In recitals, I have more say in what I play, but - proportionally - I play the most new music with my trio. I've learned an enormous amount about music from Conrad and Jay."
Jackiw will perform Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 2 on Friday, which is what he played in Cleveland in 2021 with Payare conducting. This is the third time the two will be onstage together.
"I'm always up for performing Prokofiev's second violin concerto. It's one of the masterpieces in the repertoire," Jackiw said.
"It's atmospheric and moody. Movements one and three are, for the most part, very dark. And the last movement, although it's dark, is incredibly rambunctious and rowdy.
"But the second movement is slow and one of the most beautiful things ever written for the violin. It's incredibly pure, songful and sincere. There doesn't seem to be much of Prokofiev's irony or acerbic wit in it."
"Yes, absolutely," Payare agreed, in a separate interview. "It's a little bit more honest, with a little bit less of the tongue-in-the-cheek wit that Prokofiev uses sometimes when he writes a beautiful melody."
Friday's concert will begin with Shostakovich's Festive Overture, which - with added horns, trumpets and trombones - is lively and celebratory.
The concluding piece, Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony, is the perfect way to launch the summer season, Payare said.
"It ends in a beautiful march, very joyful and uplifting," he noted.
"It's always beautiful in San Diego. Still, we can have a little bit of joy thinking about the people that will be visiting here, coming from places where the spring or winter is harsher.
"This is a nice way to welcome them to town."
San Diego Symphony Orchestra Opening Night (Rady Shell), featuring Stefan Jackiw
When: 7:30 p.m. Friday
Where: Rady Shell at Jacobs Park, 222 Marina Park Way, downtown
Tickets: $39 – $115
Phone: 619-235-0804
Online: sandiegosymphony.org
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This story was originally published June 21, 2026 at 6:11 AM.