Violinist prepares solo act

      When you first talk with Summerlin resident De Ann Burger, it's hard to get a word in.
      The 30-year-old native of Superior, Wisc., has a bubbly personality and can talk until almost out of breath. But Burger can also play the violin, has had a distinguished orchestral career and is now reviving her solo career with a recital March 17 at the Summerlin Library and Performing Arts Theater.
      "They have always called me the `crazy violinist,'" Burger said. "I try and bring classical music down to a level that everyone can enjoy and feel that they are a part of."
      Burger teaches violin to people of all ages and wants the sometimes stuffy stereotype of classical musicians to be quelled.
      "On stage I'm very animated and even throw some comedy into the mix," Burger said. "That's why people call me crazy. I try to make it fun for everyone."
      Burger started playing the violin at the age of 16 and soon found herself the center of attention due to an enormous amount of talent. When Burger graduated from high school, she was offered a spot at the famed Juliard School of Music.
      "Everyone would love to go to Juliard but I was concerned with just learning with Dorothy DeLay," Burger said. "It's also very expensive so I decided to attend the Cincinnati Conservatory because DeLay also was teaching there."
      DeLay is one of the world's most sought out teachers and has tutored some of the world's finest musicians. One of her most famous violin students is Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, who is perhaps the world's most popular violinist.
      To study with DeLay, a young violinist must get noticed first.
      "Not just anyone gets to study with Dorothy DeLay," Burger said. "So I was asked to perform at an international competition in Aspen, Colo., where Ms. DeLay would be attending."
      The competition, in early 1989, was not what Burger had expected. She was drawn to play third from last in front of the packed house of 3,000 patrons.
      Her performance started off well but soon the young violinist stumbled and was forced to stop in the middle of her performance.
      "Here you are with everything on the line and I make a mistake," Burger recalled. "I looked in the audience and noticed that all these people were looking at me with an expression of shock. I finished and had all but given up on my dream to study with DeLay."
      But the judges, which included DeLay, were moved enough by Burger's perseverance and ability to proclaim her the winner of the event.
      "I didn't hear my name called at first and I wasn't expecting it," Burger said. "I couldn't believe it and when DeLay approached me I was elated."
      Burger studied with DeLay at the Cincinnati Conservatory and looked set to take on the world of solo violin performance.
      "I was set but I met the man that would become my husband and had some other priorities in life so I decided to go the orchestral route instead," Burger said.
      Burger spent the next five years performing with the Cincinnati Symphony and relocated to Las Vegas with her husband in 1995. After playing pops with famous artists Paul Anka and Smokey Robinson, Burger discovered the Nevada Chamber Symphony.
      "When I got to Las Vegas I was looking for somewhere to play and stumbled on the Nevada Chamber Symphony," Burger said. "I've been playing with them the past three years and can't say enough about it."
      Peggy Trasatti, chair of the Nevada Chamber Symphony board of directors, said Burger's addition was a breath of fresh air.
      "De Ann Burger has been such a wonderful addition to the symphony," Trasatti said. "Her enthusiasm for music and for the growth of the symphony is unprecedented. We're glad to have her around."
      As a way to expose more Las Vegans to the Nevada Chamber Symphony, Burger called her good friend, and world-renowned pianist Sandra Rivers, to perform in Las Vegas.
      "Sandra and I played together and studied in Cincinnati," Burger said. "To get her to come and perform here is an accomplishment for the chamber symphony as well as the whole community."
      Rivers has performed with some of classical music's superstars, including Salerno-Sonnenberg and violinist Itzahk Perlman.
      "We're hoping that if we bring performers of this caliber to the city people will support the programs," Burger said. "It would be embarrassing for the city if only 50 people were to show up."
      Burger has also made it one of her personal goals to help put Las Vegas on the map as a premiere classical music stop.
      "I think that within the classical music community there is a stigma that Las Vegas is just a stopover on the way to Los Angeles," Burger said. "It doesn't rank up there with L.A., Chicago or New York. But I think the first step to changing that is bringing people like Sandra Rivers."
      For Burger, its also the first step in re-establishing her solo career.
      "I have been having a lot of cake lately performing with groups," Burger said. "I need the meat and potatoes of solo performing now."