Earlier this week I spent three days for work in Germany. My brand new lute= =20 and I had some enjoyable meetings with some fellow lute player colleagues fr= om=20 this lute forum.=A0 First, on Saturday night I had a delightful dinner (thi= rd=20 time this year!) with Thomas Schall who is becoming like an old friend to=20 me.=A0=A0 So much to talk about and to share in our enthusiasm for the lute.= =A0 But this=20 time we drove south of Frankfurt to Aschaffenburg in northern Bavaria to din= e=20 in a baroque (17th C.) castle with his friend Meinhard Gerlach, a very fine=20 lutenist (and guitarist) and a composer of new works for the 13 course lute=20= and=20 for lute and soprano as attested by his marvelous CD called "Silence"=20 (available from <A HREF=3D"www.lautenist.de)">www.lautenist.de)</A>. I even= took out my lute after dinner and played=20 it briefly in an empty arched-ceilinged room, so tempted was I by the=20 accoustics and the setting, exotic for any American!
Then, the next day I met lutelisters Stephan Olbertz and Rainer aus dem=20 Spring for a wonderful read-through of the Vallet lute quartets at the flat=20= of Mark=20 Wheeler.=A0 I met all three for the first time and the dinner conversation=20 afterwards was inspirational and mind-opening.=A0=A0 Hats off, too, to Marti= n Shepard=20 who made several of the exquisite lutes we played on that evening! I encourage all to pay attention to Mark Wheeler=B4s new renaissance trio=20 called Pantagruel, too!=A0 (www.pantagruel.de) who will perform in London Ap= ril 17th. I understand, too, that they will soon release their first CD, but for now=20 there are mp3 files to listen to on their website. Mark is a great musician= =20 with many original ideas at his fingertips. He is a wonderful improviser on= the=20 lute. The power of the Internet to share and exchange ideas and information on thi= s=20 list is, at times, unsurpassable, but never a true replacement for meeting=20 (and playing music with!) others in person.=A0 This list is a great way to e= nable=20 such meetings when one is fortunate enough to be in the right place at the=20 right time.=A0=A0 It is fascinating to see and hear other players on differe= nt=20 continents dealing with the same issues in lutes, music, technical matters,=20 interpretation, and repertoire. The same goes for the times over the last y= ear and a=20 half when I've been priviledged to meet fellow lutelisters Ed Durbrow, David= e=20 Rebuffa, Stewart McCoy, Martin Shepard, and David van Edwards in their=20 respective countries. - Kenneth Be (Cleveland) --
