GO SOX!!!!!!!!

Every once in a while our tour schedule seems to work out perfectly (like our tour to Hawaii coming up this April!). But this weekend found us in Boston for the first concert of our Brahms and Schumann cycle at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Great timing - because the Red Sox were also coming home to clinch their spot in the 2007 World Series ;-)

We watched both games, though during last night's decisive win I felt compelled to practice for our concert today. So, here you go, a sneak peak at my weakness: practicing while watching baseball (with the tv on mute of course!).





I must say this scene is a significant upgrade from the regular season when I just watch the Gameday updates on my computer. But here I am in my parents' living room in Cambridge, taking advantage of their great new screen. And check out all of my dad's cds! We lost count a while ago, but suffice it to say this is only one of many rooms full of them. All classical musicians can breathe a little easier knowing that somebody out there is still buying cds...and lots of them!

Audio AND Visual

So, I had mentioned in "ClassicallyHip" that we were to visit the WITF studio in Harrisburg last week. John Clare, who had interviewed us last year when we gave masterclasses at Getttysburg College, invited us for an in-studio interview as well as live performance. With his very nifty gadget (I must get myself one of those, by the way), he also videotaped our performance. On his blog, you can hear the interview as well as watch us in action at our instruments! Enjoy!

To go to John Clare's blog, click here.

Instrument Check-ups

As we travel, our instruments are constantly adjusting to new temperatures and humidity levels and occasionally they end up sounding like they have a bit of a cold! After hearing us perform at the music festival in Saratoga over the summer, our good friend, Herb Light mentioned that he thought our instruments were sounding a little under the weather and that he thought he could help by re-adjusting them slightly.




Herb is a wonderful violinist in the Philadelphia Orchestra and his wife, Veda Kaplinsky, was one of Donna's piano teachers at Juilliard. He has made something of a hobby of instrument doctoring, the little tweaks and touch-ups that can help an instrument sound its best. Often this means moving the sound post, a thin wooden dowel that rests between the front and back of the instrument but it can also include moving the bridge slightly, adjusting the positioning of the tailpiece, and any number of other small changes.



With a little adjustment, both the cello and violin are sounding good and healthy again. Thanks Herb!!!