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I’ve long enjoyed working with composers – it’s like living a piece of history. The New Gallery Concert Series (Sarah Bob, artistic director) on February 8, 2007 was a telling tale, bringing together composers, performers and audience members to take part in a magnificent artistic process.

The evening’s theme was “From the Non West” and it brought together a variety of compositions that drew inspiration from sources ranging from Chinese to African. Intermission featured works by photographer Katherine Vincent; the photographs were from her recent trip to Mongolia – each picture told a beautiful story.

I was joined by Brian Church (baritone) and Shaw-Pong Liu (violin) in a performance of David McMullin’s Li Bai Songs (1999). Li Bai was one of the greatest poets in Chinese history and hearing (and reading) the poems was an incredibly touching experience. (Wikipedia: Li Bai.) We had the pleasure of having David sit in on most of our rehearsals – he was calm and relaxed and gave us clear and effective suggestions along the way. As for the work itself, during the two weeks we rehearsed we all noticed how quickly it grew on us. Both working with David and on the Li Bai Songs proved to be a very rewarding experience.

The reception at the end of the concert was perhaps one of the most dynamic post-concert gatherings I’ve ever taken part in. Again, it goes back to that coalescing of composers, performers and audience members. I couldn’t begin to describe the kinds of conversations and connections that were being made in that little space and all I can say is that I feel very grateful to have been asked to play.

February 2, 2007 – Concert

I picked up Tibo and his girlfriend at Boston Logan at 6:00 pm. We went back to our apartment; I got right to work on laying out his concert program while the two of them settled in. I could hear Tibo changing his strings and playing a bit. We went over to the church at at 7:15 pm. Problem: the church was still locked! And I still needed to print the programs out. Oh man!

In the end, some how it all worked out. People were showing up at the door and it was looking great! I made a short introduction for the French virtuoso at 8:35 pm and he stepped out before a warm crowd.

His first half included 4 Scarlatti Sonatas and 3 Dyens jazz arrangements. The second half was a work by his father, Phillippe Cauvin and Domeniconi’s Koyunbaba. Even in the cold church his fingers did not falter; Tibo’s dynamic control was fantastic and the music came through beautifully. His encore featured another work by his father.

We celebrated at Bar Lola with good company and decent tapas.

February 3, 2007 – Master Class

Despite his age, Tibo proved to be an insightful teacher with much to offer. Nick Cleveland performed a work by Miguel de Fuenllana (off the lute tablature); Herman Hudde played Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s Fantasia for Guitar & Piano; Ariadne Smith played Bach’s E major Prelude from BWV 1006.

Tibo covered matters both technical and musical. In the former he went in to great detail about the subtlety of hand coordination and posture; in the latter he spoke of the nuances in phrasing (Castelnuovo-Tedesco) and motivic development (Bach).

Most admirable was the amount of dedication he had for each performer. He even went overtime for all of them! After the class was finished I gave them a quick tour of the school and decided to hit up that wonderful pizza joint “Upper Crust”. Yes, it definitely hit the spot.