I’m off to Ann Arbor this weekend to work with violinist Danielle Belén for a recording session. Danielle is one of the newest faculty members in the School of Music at the University of Michigan. We have been collaborating since 2008, when she first contacted me about recording a disk of my music for Naxos. The experience of working with Danielle on that disk gave me tremendous respect for her skill, artistry and creative energy, so when I needed someone to help me realize a concept I had for a new recording, I contacted her. We’ve been back and forth on this for a little over a year, with a crescendo of communication over the last few weeks. Looking forward to seeing her and hearing her play again.
This project has me wrestling with an old internal argument: the differences between the way we experience live and recorded music. The last hundred years have introduced the human race to music divorced from performance, and we are still plumbing the ramifications of that split. I’ll have more to say on this topic after I figure out a few things, in conjunction with Danielle, this weekend.