Chaconne #35 – 7:00pm 2/24/17 Opus Cafe

The third and final Journey of 100 performance sponsored by Hamilton College

2 Comments

  1. nesecan balkan on February 26, 2017 at 1:39 pm

    Dear Shem,

    I attended Journey of 100 performance # 33 and enjoyed it very much. Thank you!! I preferred to close my eyes as I listened to your gorgeous playing so nothing could come between the sound and my mind. It is such an exquisite experience to be so close by to live playing in that relatively small space. However, I did not want to be distracted by the presence of people and things. I imagined that you were playing on a high cliff looking over the sea and that you just had the blue sky and the sea behind you. The music of Bach carried me over the waves.

    I also attended your evening concert with Sar-Shalom and the beautiful images in the background. That was also a most fantastic experience… I found that during first part of the concert where there were no images, my mind felt as if it was broadening, enlarging as I listened to you my eyes closed. I could only concentrate on the way notes flowed. However, in the second part, when I looked at the images, it seemed as though the music was describing the shapes in these photos. I could not concentrate solely on music but used music to think about what I was seeing.

    Many thanks for coming to Hamilton and giving yourself thoroughly to us to present your incredible sounds. Thanks to Sar-Shalom and Peter as well…

  2. Israel Guibbory on April 2, 2017 at 7:48 pm

    Shem, I saw your performance of Chaconne at the Explorers’ Club recently in Manhattan. Here are my thoughts: Although every piece has a beginning and end I got lost in the performance and felt as though I was suspended in time. I especially liked the softer passages, they were sensitive and beautiful. It was like you were having a conversation with the music, and the music was responding to your input. Well done, brother.

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