Teen violinist shares gift of music with seniors

Presents come in all shapes and sizes during the holiday season, and for the last several years, 16-year-old violinist Franz Felkl has been giving the gift of music to the elderly.

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Felkl has made it a tradition to perform a holiday concert for residents of the Juneau Senior Center in the days leading up to Christmas. He performed traditional Christmas music for the seniors earlier this week.

"They enjoy it, and I always enjoy playing for them," Felkl said. "It gives me more experience playing in front of people, and I know they love it and I love it too."

Fred Felkl said he suggested to his son several years ago to share his gift of music with people that might not have access to live performances.

"I said, 'You know you should do something for the old people,'" Fred Felkl recalled. "He's been going back ever since."

Franz Felkl began taking lessons from local violinist Guo-hua Xia when he was just 4 years old. The boy found an interest in the violin after finding and repeatedly playing with an 1850s-era family heirloom that lay dormant in a closet since his father immigrated to Alaska in 1964 from Austria.

"It was stuck in his closet until I started pulling it out," Franz Felkl said.

Fred Felkl came to the United States with just a suitcase and the violin, which he had never learned to play.

"I got it from my dad, who got it from his dad," he said. "I never played it, but I brought it as an heirloom."

It took several years for the boy to grow into the instrument, but now he said he loves playing the violin for audiences big and small. Felkl is now studying under violinist Linda Rosenthal.

"Whenever people introduce me, or my friends introduce me to people, they say, 'This is Franz, he plays violin,'" he said. "I'm kind of known as the kid that plays violin, but I see myself as the guy that likes to play, because you are always happy after playing."

Felkl said he also enjoys making others feel happy by playing the violin. He performed traditional Christmas songs for the senior citizens this week to help spread the holiday cheer, he said.

"It gives me a sense of helping those people that can't get out much and don't get to see the symphony and stuff like that," he said. "When I go there, they can listen to the music I play for them, and it just gives them entertainment."

• Contact Eric Morrison at 523-2269 or eric.morrison@juneauempire.com.