As Bogart said to Bergman, We will always have Paris!

Putting aside how much J'adore Paris, the concert/workshop we asked to do for the American church in November 2004 presented us with a wonderful opportunity to share our love of music for flute & guitar in a perfect room with a fantastic audience.

The location of the church puts you along the Seine across from the Grand palace, and in between the Eiffel tower & the Muse d'Orsay. Need I say more? The Church sanctuary with its wrap around stained glass cathedral is a stunning room; truly breathtaking. And while churches are notorious for not being very friendly to the guitar, this was not the case. Additionally, the Parisian audience (European audiences in general) was just so generous. The church to our delight was virtually full with knowledgeable fans of chamber music of all ages, from 8 to 80, and they would not let us leave without an encore. We are already planning our return engagement.

We have been very fortunate to carve a career in chamber music, being awarded to play in some of the most impressive rooms in the U.S.A. but for us, nothing compares to beauty & history of Paris, the city of light & illusion.

A bientot!
- Gerry Saulter
Cofounder Serenade duo for flute & guitar

Guitar x2 recently performed at a Museum in French Canada which was beautiful. The people were very warm and welcoming and the beautiful countryside was the same. It was a lovely experience and one that will always be close to my heart.
- Harris Becker

What comes immediately to mind is when during an Affiliate Artist Residency I played in an out door train station depot in I believe Arkansas. They set me up and I played in a slightly enclosed area where the sound bounced off the concrete walls wonderfully. But the main reason I'll never forget it was because of a beautiful small elderly woman who approached me after the brief concert and said "You sure do make a lady out of that thang." To this day it's my favorite review!
- Ben Verdery

Favorite performing venues for me seem less to do with the place and more with the audience. I will take note of a place that has great acoustics, but it is the people that I take with me, their reactions, smiles and comments. What guitarist doesn't feel humbled by someone who comes to you after and says that they never thought the guitar could play such music? It always means to me that I did my job.

In 1989, I took a teaching job in Kingston, Jamaica. It was a difficult assignment for my wife and I, but gratifying beyond words. We were performing all over the island, from little churches, to schools, to resorts on the north coast. The schools of course follow the British system and appear quite strict and orderly to an American. In one of these, we were led into a huge cafeteria-style room. We were late after experiencing some harrowing adventures on the Jamaican roads and had no time to even settle in or tune.

Before us was a wall of blue and white uniforms who on hearing a clap from their teacher stood up all at once to welcome us. The breeze from their unified movement cut through the hot, sultry afternoon air as we took the stage.

We played a few flute and guitar selections, some lute and flute solos, then I played Capriccho Arabe by Tarrega. When I finished we asked the audience if they had any questions. One young girl about 12 years old stood up and asked, "Why does Spanish music always sound so sad?" My mind raced to find an answer. I knew at least three I could tell her; how it has to do with the mode the piece was written in; how she might be comparing it to Jamaican music which always sounds so...well...happy! I chose a third, and explained how each person experiences music differently and if it made her sad, someone else might feel something different.

She accepted that but I pondered her question for the rest of the afternoon. I thought of the difficult and proud history of Jamaica, its struggle for freedom from its Spanish and then English colonial powers. I thought of the present and how difficult life was for the majority of the people. I thought of my own sadness at being so far from home and friends. That young girl connected with me and in doing so taught me another lesson on the power of music and the depth of meaning in Tarrega's work.
- Pat Bianculli