Carberry violinist a hit in New York

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This article was published 12/12/2010 (5423 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

At the tender age of 26, Westman native Mitchell Grobb has already hit a career high note in the Big Apple.

Grobb, who was born and raised in Carberry, is smack dab in the middle of a run of Cirque du Soleil’s whimsical winter fantasy, "Wintuk," at the Theatre at Madison Square Gardens in New York.

As the show’s solo violinist, Grobb is transformed each day into a fully-costumed, fully made-up winter character — a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that he says still sometimes merits a pinch to truly appreciate.

"It’s incredible (to be part of Cirque)," he told the Sun via phone from New York recently. "To be a part of a Canadian company that has done so well and is so creative and respected is an absolute thrill.

"It’s a really crazy experience."

After auditioning for Cirque’s regular musical troupe earlier this year, a whirlwind process plunked Grobb down in Montreal for rehearsals in the fall before he was slingshot into the spotlight as part of "Wintuk" when it opened its twice daily shows in mid-November.

"It’s a thrill every time," he said of his slower tempo, emotional solo during the show. "I always think about how lucky I am to be doing what I’m doing."

Grobb is no stranger to the big stage, however.

Just prior to his high school graduation from Carberry Collegiate in 2002, Grobb auditioned for and was selected to tour with the Calgary-based modern fiddle performance troupe, Barrage. The high octane fusion of music, dance, theatre and song took Grobb to nearly 20 countries across the globe over a four-year tour.

"I had never been exposed to so many different styles of music before," he recalls. "Barrage really explores everything that’s possible with the violin … it took a lot of getting used to and a lot of practice, but I loved all of it."

Following that experience, Grobb spent a year and a half in Japan, performing at the Tokyo Disney Resort in an Irish-style stage show.

Sandra Grobb says she knew her son was destined to be a performer after he began begging for violin lessons at the age of four. When his eagerness for the instrument hadn’t subsided a few years later, they enrolled him in Brandon University’s Suzuki Talent Education program, which he attended for nearly a decade until his graduation.

Though she admits it was somewhat bittersweet to have to share Mitchell with the world so soon after high school, she now knows there is absolutely no other place in the world she could imagine her son creating a career.

"We missed his music … because he played all the time," she says. "But when we’re in contact with him, you can tell he’s exactly where he should be. He’s performing, he’s playing and that’s what he wants. He’s really happy so, for us, that’s right.

"When we first saw him performing with Barrage, it just felt right. We saw him performing … it just looked like he was where he was supposed to be."

Grobb’s family recently visited him in New York to take in his performances in "Wintuk."

"He’s done such extraordinary things in our eyes with his music. This is just another step," Sandra said.

While the Wintuk show at Madison Square Gardens will wrap up on Jan. 2, it’s Grobb’s hope he can continue with Cirque du Soleil as a regular performer. But even if he doesn’t stay on with the group, a spot on the stage somewhere is still in his sights.

"I love playing music and I love being creative and being a part of really neat and different things," he said. "It just comes down to loving the violin — trying new things and it just constantly being a learning process."