It was a reception “with a twist” as CSD artists Timothy Braun, Erik Ásgeirsson and Pauline Martin interacted with fans of all ages, following their performance on March 9, 2013 at the Birmingham Unitarian Church. Borrowing from theater tradition, CSD’s first-ever Talk Back offered an exclusive opportunity for audience members to learn more about the artists’ lives in music. Bill Close served as moderator.
If young listeners had assumed that talent and passion were all that is necessary to have a career in music, they were surprised to learn that the seemingly glamorous life of an artist can be lonely.
“I love to perform, but I don’t like the process,” revealed Timothy Braun.
A performing artist’s rigorous practice regimen makes for a life lived largely in solitary, a tough but inescapable price to pay in service to one’s career as a performer.
Asked to share the “most exciting” project of the year, one would expect to hear about the various festivals and halls of Europe. But violinist Timothy Braun replied without hesitation, “Right here . . . right now, this is pretty exciting,” with Erik Ásgeirsson nodding in assent.
Braun and Ásgeirsson have collaborated in a larger chamber ensemble on several occasions in recent years. But it was as winners of a fellowship competition in Germany that they found themselves programming for concerts in hospices and other settings without a piano. Both have enjoyed discovering and performing the various pieces for string duo, featured this time with the ever popular Mendelssohn Piano Trio in d minor.