THE ALGONQUIN ENSEMBLE

“We are all living in extraordinary times and as I am grateful for the strength and support of family and friends, I am also keenly aware of people dealing with quite urgent health and life challenges. I have been pretty busy teaching and staying in touch with people this past spring. Isolation has made me revisit and re-evaluate sources of artistic & musical inspiration.”

“Since I was so busy teaching and parenting until early June, it was hard to focus on my own playing until recently. However, I’ve created some technical and repertoire goals to sustain me and my art for the summer. From mid-May to the end of June, I’ve been working with a lovely group of string educators from all over the world—from the Yukon to South America to New Zealand to Newfoundland, and beyond! I’ve been teaching them how to teach their students to improvise. They’ve also begun improvising themselves and we have mini-jam sessions over zoom, which is quite amazing! Their dedication and willingness to make themselves vulnerable inspires me and I’m looking forward to working with my second cohort in July and August.”

“I have found that during self-isolation, music gives me an outlet for expressing the vast range of emotions I am feeling that extends beyond the boundaries of language. Through music, I can communicate complex states of mind and feelings that I am experiencing without the limits imposed by trying to define them. These heightened emotions and feelings are amplified and mirrored in music.”

“Isolation = Reflection. Everyday makes me reflect on what was, what is missed, what is to come. Infinite reflection, diving deeper and deeper into my inner world, morphing into refraction...where nothing is quite as it seems and our lives seem to hover like a wave of sound that has been remarkably changed.”

“I was convinced isolation was going to help me catch up with house chores and repairs. Dreams upon dreams. The days are far too short. However, the isolation is boosting musical inspiration - more work to complete!”