danmark

Hello all

I'm going to fire up the blog after a little vacation... I spent the month of July on a road trip through the western United States: san fransisco to chicago with stops at the grand canyon, my sister's wedding, and other wonderful places until we reached chicago/lafayette, the homeland. It's funny, though, because california is my real homeland. I was born in Oakland and lived there on and off until first grade when my family moved to the midwest. So the trip was kind of retracing my life's path.

Now I'm in Denmark, or Danmark, as it is in Danish. I'm at a music festival called "Thy (pronounced 'tou') Masterclasses,"(http://www.thymasterclass.dk/) which in reality is not masterclasses but a two week chamber music festival. I'm playing five different pieces and over the course of the two weeks will perform each piece twice in concerts around this area of western denmark.

The opening concert of the festival was last night, a sort of impromptu deal pulled together on the second day of the festival. It was a little long, two and half hours followed by a reception with more music, but everyone seemed to enjoy all of it. What was lovely about the concert is how varied the program was, everyone had just brought something that they really liked playing or something fun that they could put together quickly.

Some highlights from the concert: Ravel duo for violin and cello: incredile energy and passion. Especially in the second movement the violinist pushed the limits of what we consider playing with a pretty sound to good effect. (i.e. a little rought or ugly) Sarasate's Zigeunerweisen, or 'Gypsy Airs,' played with great flair (ok, he hammed it up a little) but the audience ate it up. What else? Two faculty played a hungarian chardas with much drama and suspense during the reception. What was exciting about this concert was hearing all these great musicians playing so well and so differently. It's exciting to me in this 2 year international sojourn to be surrounded by lots of different players at once from all over Europe and the United States.