Emily Wells

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More About

• Emily Wells
• Notorious B.I.G.
• Antonio Vivaldi
• Hip-Hop and Rap
• Arts, Entertainment, and Media

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With looping pedals and her violin, Emily Wells composes big songs that can be performed by one person. Hip hop has been as influential on Wells as classical, but while she may have Vivaldi dropping steamers in his grave, she's come under far more fire for the hip hop part. A controversial cover of Notorious B.I.G.'s "Juicy" attracted scorn from people who accused Wells, a white, classically-trained violinist, of appropriating a culture not her own. In Wells' own music, the hip hop influence is more subtle, but her album, The Symphonies: Dreams Memories & Parties, is an exploration of classical and folk music with hip hop production. If only she and Black Violin -- two violinists and a DJ who perform hip hop on violin -- could get together, maybe classical music will experience a comeback. With Anomie Bell. SARA BRICKNER
Wed., Aug. 25, 7:30 p.m., 2010