Back to Work!

After a day of rest, it's back to work, rehearsing for our upcoming concerts! We were grateful to the Delhi Music Society for the use of their largest room to unpack gear and rehearse for many hours. A great pleasure also to again take up preparing for the premiere of Carlos Marecos' fantastic work written for us, "7 Instantes from Rural Portugal" for flutes, recorders and piano. Marecos is famous for sensuous melodies and harmonies—effortless mastery, really—and we are sure the audience will love the work as much as we already do! Lots of other works, covering five centuries of music, on the program too, so we think there will be something, hopefully many things, on the program for everyone! 

More photos of the day! 

Powell Flutes, unpacked and ready to go, plus a lovely Soubeyran traverso! 

Just a few of the many recorders to be used for the program… 

A lovely Bõsendorfer piano owned by the Delhi Music Society. Ivory tops of keys nailed down due to humidity causing the glue to "melt". 

Masks to protect against the smoke (receding, fortunately) in Delhi—better safe than sorry.  

Best news of the day: Hotel Concierge with our delayed luggage! Whew! 

Namaste — Welcome to India!

We've arrived! Smooth flights, friendly passengers next to us, even sleep on the plane! Delhi is recovering from the smoke-out much in the news last week, and we (wind players!) are grateful! 

So far, the most striking thing is the kindness and competence of the people here—having had our luggage miss the connection in Heathrow, our first task was to get that sorted out. Helpful people at every step, most appreciated. We're acclimating in a gorgeous hotel and that helps, too, but it is clear that courtesy is common currency here.  

Along these lines, I've learned that "namaste" is not a greeting for yoga classes only! The word, palms-together and slight bow greeting is the norm here for everyday use—a beautiful gesture which colors one's experience immediately. For the rest, some photos from the first day: colorful contrasts!

Syrinx : XXII colleague António Carrilho at the beautiful airport in Delhi, India

One of many different modes of transport in Delhi — great colors! 

A healthy "mocktail" with ginger, raspberry and lime—cheers! 

Refreshing cucumber drink, a great cure for traveler's dehydration! 

Syrinx : XXII Reunited on a new/old continent! 

Amazing INDIA! Syrinx : XXII Tour!

We're almost on our way…to India!! A huge, storied country I've dreamt of visiting for decades! Best of all, I'll be there with my colleagues of Syrinx : XXII, António Carrilho, recorders, and Raj Bhimani, piano, performing in numerous cities and venues in various parts of this enormous country. A life in music occasionally brings these extraordinary rewards, to compensate for the hours of slogging away in a practice room, no?

I've set up a page about the tour on the site, and will be blogging as we go along. So follow us here on this adventure, starting on the 11th of November. For as much as I've heard and read and especially EATEN of Indian culture, I've also heard that it really must be experienced in person, and is one of the most memorable destinations in the world, so bring it on!

Here's the poster for our first performance, in a more casual setting: the Jazz Club (!) of Delhi! Poster and concert presenting by Sardana Creative Consultancy—thank you!!

Syrinx : XXII—photo by Rita Delille

Syrinx : XXII - It's a wrap! (HOT!!)

Global warming has arrived, in case there were any doubt! After ten days of Syrinx : XXII rehearsals in the sweltering heat of Lisbon, we escaped to…more heat in the north! Not all was lost; the rehearsals were fantastic—fun and creative as always, and the north was beautiful beyond our (already very) high expectations!

At the end of the last day of rehearsals, we relaxed for a photo shoot in the elegant Lisbon Opera House. Like the rehearsals, the shoot was entertaining, entirely due to my patient and cheerful colleagues, Raj Bhimani, piano and António Carrilho, recorders. We extend our most grateful appreciation to the Opera House for their support, and to photographer Rita Delille, for her talent and good humor!

Syrinx : XXII, with Raj Bhimani and António Carrilho

Rehearsal Break - Vegan Food Project, Lisbon

What's the reward for rehearsing in August, when global warming is doing its thing in Lisbon? GREAT FOOD, of course! Wind players are famous for their gastronomic interests, and Syrinx: XXII consists of two wind players plus a gourmet cook/pianist, so the question is settled! Today, we went to the "Vegan Food Project"restaurant near Chiado in Lisbon, and the food was vegan but mostly just amazing, and the service was tops, too. 

After the photo: back to work, most enjoyable, on a selection of works for upcoming concerts—more on that soon!

Dessert and good cheer—Syrinx: XXII at Vegan Food Project in Lisbon

An-ti-ci-paaaaaaa-tion!

Guess who's on their way to Lisbon? Aside from thousands of tourists, that is…

Answer: Raj Bhimani, the wonderful pianist of Syrinx: XXII, our trio with the fabulous António Carrilho, recorders. Soon he'll be somewhere over the Atlantic, en route from New York, in order to rehearse for upcoming concerts of Syrinx: XXII and soak up the ambience of Lisbon in August. We're preparing a couple programs about which you'll hear more later—can't spill the beans quite yet! But you can bet they'll be anything but the "same old, same old"—working with Syrinx: XXII is a case of 1+1+1=10!

I love this atmospheric, Rembrandt-esque photo of Raj (by the NY photographer Jiyang Chen) because it has depth of expression, both in the subject and in the photo itself. Plus, check out the serious piano-size hands—

American pianist, Raj Bhimani. Photo by Jiyang Chen