Speaking in Strings Famed violinist brings her fighting spirit to a concert at Maine Center for the Arts

When a musician arrives at a new concert hall, one she has never played in before, she faces challenges that might not occur to the concertgoer. For instance, she may wonder about the sound of the hall when it is full, or the ambience created by the audience, or the number of steps to center stage, or the reception she will get once she arrives in the spotlight.

To all of this, violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, with pianist Anne-Marie McDermott, has added yet another curve ball for a classical concert Friday at the Maine Center for the Arts in Orono. The first piece on the evening’s program is Schubert’s Rondo Brilliant in B minor, a whopping piece of music to start a concert.

In typical high-wire fashion, Salerno-Sonnenberg, known for a bold and boisterous approach to music, will take to the stage with a fierce start.

Anyone who has seen “Speaking in Strings,” the Oscar-nominated documentary about her life, knows that Salerno-Sonnenberg comes by her fighting spirit naturally. Her father left the family when she was 3 months old, and, when she moved at age 8 to New Jersey from Rome, Italy, with her mother, Salerno-Sonnenberg had to stand up and be counted in a country whose language she did not know. And it wasn’t as if all her friends were classical music students – so she had to hold her ground defensively in school, too.

But hold her ground she did. At 20, after studying at the Curtis Institute of Music and The Juilliard School, she entered the Naumburg International Violin Competition against her teacher’s recommendation – and won. The award launched not only her professional career but a series of public appearances, including an interview with Johnny Carson on “The Tonight Show,” that revealed a humorous, unpretentious and quick-witted young woman.

Despite reviews that called her style overwrought and sensationalized, Salerno-Sonnenberg became a favorite on the concert circuit and toured internationally performing virtuoso pieces with orchestras.

As with many musicians whose life is balanced exclusively yet precariously between rehearsals and performances, Salerno-Sonnenberg also faced shocking obstacles. While preparing dinner for friends one night, she sliced off the tip of her pinky finger with a knife and faced the prospect of never playing again. Fortunately, no nerves were destroyed in the finger, and Salerno-Sonnenberg made a full recovery.

But the threat of the injury, coupled with family and relationship issues, eventually toppled the violinist. One night in a fit of anxiety, she raised a pistol to her head and pulled the trigger. Miraculously, the gun jammed, and Salerno-Sonnenberg’s hopelessness was additionally foiled by a friend, who rescued her from herself that night.

Two weeks later, in a testament to her ultimately unquenchable spirit and passion for music, Salerno-Sonnenberg debuted triumphantly at Carnegie Hall.

Now in her early 40s, Salerno-Sonnenberg is grateful to be alive and to have more self-knowledge.

“I am at a place where I realize I make the same stupid mistakes but I have less desperation, more quiet satisfaction and confidence,” she said recently from her home in Manhattan. “I went through a bad period and I know I won’t go there again, or if I did, I now have the handbook on what to do.”

The love of music, she said, is what carries her through a career that includes traveling internationally, touring throughout the year and practicing long hours. There was never any question, she says, that she would be a classical musician. Everyone in her family played or loved music, so she feels genetically disposed to be a violinist.

But she knows now that it takes the dedication of time as well as vigilance to her own inner world. She recently purchased a house in the country, where she plans to relax and entertain friends and family with big Italian meals. While she continues to expand as a musician, most recently as a crossover artist playing interpretations of jazz greats and performing with both Spanish and Celtic musicians, she is also committed to taking care of her personal life. When she talks about her life and about her music, the two topics mesh.

“There are things I want to do that I can’t do yet, but I have confidence,” said Salerno-Sonnenberg. “I really do love music. But right now, I don’t feel I have to prove anything. Really, I am enjoying my life now.”

Violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg and pianist Anne-Marie McDermott will perform at 8 p.m. April 4 at the Maine Center for the Arts in Orono. For more information and tickets, call 581-1755.