The Guidonian Hand trombone quartet was with us for a week-long retreat in early February. Their project was to record music they had commissioned and/or premiered over the past several years. Three intense long days saw them “lay down” all the material in the beautiful acoustical space of the old Saranac Methodist church. The editing and mixing is being done in NYC and we hope to have a thrilling CD release party for the guys in the fall at the Fire Hall!
The Hand gave a concert at the church to wind up their residency – a terrific program that juxtaposed art music of the past (Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Debussy) with contemporary works of living composers (Galen Brown, Jeremy Howard Beck, Conrad Winslow). In lieu of printed notes, the quartet members spoke engagingly about the various works – especially helpful with the new music, but there was some interesting nugget about even the old classics. Elegant speaking, exciting music, excellent virtuosic playing! They brought the house down, albeit a slim house due to snowy roads.
