Summers' delights: Allie Summers joins Carrie Newcomer in relaunch of Hand Picked music series

If you see a concert with violinist, cellist and vocalist Allie van Wassenaer-Summers in it, you may notice her stealing the show. It's not that she means to. She can't help it.

You'll have a chance to see and hear her soon — when Hand Picked relaunches on Sept. 9 and 11 at the FAR Center for Contemporary Arts. Bloomington’s Carrie Newcomer will perform 12 new arrangements for string quartet by Newcomer's longtime pianist Gary Walters. The quartet features Indiana University Jacobs School of Music musicians in the Skylark Trio and Allie Summers. The Sept. 11 performance will be livestreamed and in-person purchasers of either night’s performance will have both livestream and replay access to the Sept. 11 show for 10 days.

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"You just have this talent dripping off of you; you play with energy and with soul." That's what acclaimed violinist Larry Shapiro, Summers' violin teacher at Butler University, told Summers the first time he saw her native play.

Summers had been nervous auditioning for Butler, fearing she would fail to fit the music program. Ostracized by other classical violinists growing up because of her bluegrass roots (she first played alongside her banjo-playing father when she was 9), she wondered if she was "enough."

Shapiro mined the musicianship of playing an instrument, teaching Summers that proficiency requires more than simply playing at a high level.

"We had long conversations about mental health, practice habits that help and hinder learning, how the mind/body/spirit was essential in connecting the musician to the music ... he really informed the kind of musician and the kind of person I am today," Summers said through email.

In 2015 Summers directed a successful Kickstarter (fundraising) campaign for a record she wrote and recorded in Nashville, Tennessee. It was her initial fundraising attempt and she liked it. Maybe she should run Kickstarters for other people, too, she thought.

"I was up to my ears in violin work, but there was a whole side of my brain that wasn't really being activated in the same way. ... I have always been interested in the greater good and how I can make the world a (slightly) better place through music and art," she said.

Summers moved to Nashville, where she worked as the house fiddle player for Tootsie's World Famous Orchid Lounge for five years. She also recorded, toured and teamed up with artists across North America. Her first self-produced album came in 2015 with her Kickstarter campaign to support it.

"Lower Broadway, the street Tootsie's and many other country/western clubs are located on, is the epicenter of Nashville's live music scene. It's also the biggest party strip in the city."

The plethora of competing clubs means that it very much matters which ones a musician can line up for steady gigs.

"I managed to network and hustle my way into a really great spot on the main stage at Tootsie's, the one facing the street side of Lower Broadway, and wow, did I learn a lot there." Lessons learned include how to read a room, decide which song to play next, manage the tip jar and improvise harmonies.

"I would not trade those five years I worked there for anything."

"Nashville is an entire world — scratch that, an entire UNIVERSE — unto itself. It's the epicenter of live music, bluegrass/country, improvisation ... basically everything I wanted to learn."

Summers also figured she would find others like her, "musical misfits." But the Nashville life proved exhausting and, at times, merciless.

"But there would be no Allie Summers today without Allie Summers then. I'm impossibly grateful for the people I met and the opportunities I was given during my time there."

She likes singing harmony, and her favorite place on stage is in the vicinity of the lead singer, where she can step back and be a "utility player"or step forward to belt out harmonies.

"I especially enjoy lifting up and supporting female lead artists, which makes me love playing with Carrie (Newcomer) all the more!"

Summers finds performing with Newcomer to be "an incredibly fulfilling and satisfying musical experience."

"And what a treat to be able to play with Gary (Walters, pianist), too, my former jazz professor at Butler! I consider them both members of my musical family, people who I vibe with, who speak the same creative language as I do, who trust me to make spontaneous decisions onstage."

As a native Hoosier, Summers knew that Indiana University is a good choice for those seeking careers in the cultural sector. She already felt confident about violin, so she wanted to learn about arts administration and cultural policy. Research told her that a master's at IU's O'Neill School, then "SPEA," was perfect for her skill set. (She worked at WonderLab during that time as a development assistant.)

As for Summers' new (as of last month) last name — and her endeavor "Allie & Deets" — she met Dutch-American violinist Diederik van Wassenaer in 2015. He was relocating to Nashville after earning his bachelor's degree at IU.

"Being two violinists who were active in (similar) music scenes, we hit it off instantly."

Last year Diederik started a job with the Residentie Orkest in The Hague, and Summers moved to The Netherlands to start married life together. And to become Allie van Wassenaer-Summers.

If you go

WHAT: Hand Picked Music Series presents Carrie Newcomer, Gary Walters, Allie Summers & The Skylark Trio, and guest Tadhg Meachair

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Sept. 9 and 11

WHERE: The FAR Center, 505 W. Fourth St.

TICKETS: https://www.bloomingtonroots.com. In-person seating is limited; early ticket purchase suggested. Livestream on Mandolin; Sept. 11 show will be livestreamed. In-person tickets are $30; livestreamed tickets are $18.

MORE: Find more about Allie van Wassenaer-Summers at alliesummers.com

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Allie Summers joins Carrie Newcomer in Hand Picked series relaunch