The Bow and The Brush
The Bow and the Brush is an interdisciplinary performance project that integrates contemporary music with the visual arts. Conceived by violinist and composer Daniel Darmesin Flanagan, the program features newly commissioned and original musical works inspired by paintings and sculptures. During each performance, images of the artworks that inspired the compositions are projected, creating a direct dialogue between sound and image.
The project emerged from an extended engagement with both disciplines and from the recognition of shared expressive qualities between visual and musical art forms—color and timbre, texture and articulation, gesture and form. Through this lens, The Bow and the Brush explores how visual artworks can serve as catalysts for new musical expression and how music can, in turn, illuminate visual experience.
The Bow and the Brush has been presented internationally, with performances in New York City, Rome, Paris, London, San Francisco, Berkeley, Sacramento, Oakland, San Diego, Eugene, Denton, Houston, and Chicago. Highlights of the 2023–24 season included appearances at the Center for New Music (San Francisco), Boston University, Carnegie Hall, L’Impromptu (Bordeaux), the University of Rome, and the American Library in Paris.
Dedicated to the promotion of living composers and contemporary visual artists, The Bow and the Brush continues to expand through performances, new commissions, and recordings, fostering collaboration across artistic disciplines and audiences worldwide.
Note: Children are welcome at all TCMS events!
Daniel Darmesin Flanagan
Daniel Darmesin Flanagan has built a multifaceted career as a soloist and orchestral musician, performing concertos with orchestras in California and recitals throughout the United States and Europe. Flanagan currently serves as Concertmaster of the Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera, Concertmaster of West Edge Opera, and Instructor of Violin at University of California, Berkeley. Described as an “excellent violinist” (New York Concert Reviews), “stellar musician” (Nevada Reviews) and “superior violinist” (Piedmont Post), he has been praised for his “exquisite tones” and “forthright brio” (Sacramento Bee), and his “solos were excellent” (San Francisco Classical Voice).
For more information, see https://danflanaganviolin.com