Singapore violinist Ning Kam will perform different pieces with the Friends of Chamber Music, TSO and Phoenix Symphony.

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Violinist Ning Kam will make her Arizona debut next week in what could be seen as the ultimate example of artistic collaboration.

In the next two weeks, Kam will perform for the Arizona Friends of Chamber Music, the Tucson Symphony Orchestra and the Phoenix Symphony.

Initially, Kam was to perform a one-shot recital for the Friends, but the group was unable to arrange for Kam's visa. Because she doesn't have a U.S.-based agent, anyone bringing her in for a performance has to arrange and finance her visa.

That's when Friends President Jean-Paul Bierny turned to the TSO, which, after juggling dates and rearranging its schedule, was able to fit Kam in for next weekend's Classics Series concert. But the TSO also was unable to arrange for the visa.

So Bierny took his idea to the Phoenix Symphony, which had the means to secure the visa and was interested. TSO Executive Director Susan Franano also put in a good word with her colleagues in Phoenix, who did some juggling and tweaking and were able to bring Kam in for three concerts over Thanksgiving weekend.

"It is precisely that kind of collaborative effort that will enhance the future of arts organizations in Tucson," said TSO music director George Hanson, a staunch advocate for groups teaming up on similar cross-presentations.

"I'm very happy that this worked out for all of Arizona," Bierny said. "This is going to expose a lot of Arizonans to this fantastic violinist. This is very good cooperation between the Arizona Friends of Chamber Music, the TSO and the Phoenix Symphony. Who knows, there may be more."

"How cool is that," Kam said when told the story during a phone interview from London last week. "It's a real group effort, isn't it? I thank you from the bottom of my heart. . . . I am thrilled that everyone made all this effort. It's great."

The Singapore-born Kam, the daughter of Chinese composer and violinist Kam Kee Yong, is a well-traveled soloist whose treks mostly are confined to Europe and the Far East.

"I don't know how these things work, but I think sometimes presenters might have difficulty getting non-U.S. residents to play in the U.S. because of all these visa things," she said in a pristine English accent. "For me to play in the Far East and Europe, it's very easy. I get on the plane and I'm there. But for playing in the United States, I have to wake up at the crack of dawn and go to the American embassy. But where there's a will there's a way."

Kam, 33, studied in the U.S. from 1993 to 2001, earning her bachelor's degree from the Curtis Institute of Music and her master's from the Cleveland Institute of Music. Her instructors have included Yehudi Menuhin, Jaime Laredo, Yumi Scott and Donald Weilerstein.

But her time in North America was limited to the East Coast and Canada. This will be her first foray West.

"The United States is one massive country, but there are so many different sides," she said. "It's all different. When I think of Arizona, of course, I think of the Grand Canyon. Am I right to be expecting beautiful landscapes and mountains?"

She also can expect audiences curious to see her perform Copland's Sonata for Violin and Piano (Sunday with the Friends), Barber's Violin Concerto with the TSO and Ravel's "Tzigane" in Phoenix. Her performances have captivated critics around the globe who marvel at her technical prowess and captivating stage presence. The Straits Times in Singapore called her the country's "most exciting violinist," and Michel Debrocq, while judging the 2001 Queen Elisabeth Competition in Belgium, wrote that she was a "totally different type of personality who will illuminate the end of the evening and the contest with tawny and entrancing colours . . . superbly controlled . . . sometimes humourous and devilishly sensual." Kam took second place in that competition.

In her spare time, Kam makes music with her brother, self-taught drummer Francis Kam. "We're like the Chinese Von Trapp family, except there are two of us," she joked.

"When I think about it sometimes, what I do for a living, I just think, 'I get paid for this. This is amazing,' " she said. "I love the music that I play and I love playing the violin. It's a dream come true and I'm blessed to be coming (to Arizona)."