stradivarius

Inspiration does come from the darndest places. As a creative musician, the object is to make sound that has never been made, no matter how many others share the same inspirations.

Rist's Elixir surely must have come from nature, the same sounds and trees and sticks we all spend our lives tripping over. If only there were a way for Chuck and I to transpose this immersive experience and bottle the beauty of Kerala in a musical performance.

Even within relatively muted and contained colors of the classical music world, there is the occasional shocker: last week, the Rachel Barton Pine Foundation in Chicago awarded me the loan of a 1718 Stradivarius violin.

On Monday, I fly to Warsaw with it to record with the Sinfonia Varsovia. In the meantime, I've been spending time with this legendary antique, getting to know it, learning how to mold its moods even as the damned thing seems to be bending me to its ancient will.

How many ways there are to impale oneself on beauty.