Above: Louis and Patti Labelle

How does one create a new version of an existing composition, create a beginning, middle and end, establish a new and different “groove” for the arrangement and, of course, make it playable for the collection of instruments your musicians play?

Such is the work of an arranger.

What would the perfect workshop look like?

I've been asking myself this question for years — as a performer, as a teacher, and as someone who has attended more workshops, festivals, and intensives than I can count. Some were wonderful. Some were overwhelming. A few changed the way I think about music. And when Joan, Louis, and I sat down to design Chrysalis, we started with the things that mattered most to us about the experiences that changed us — and left out everything that didn't.

Joan and I have collaborated with many composers and commissioned numerous works during our forty-plus years of duo concertizing, but this level of collaboration with a composer was truly special, so special, in fact, that we have continued working together.

Musical partnerships are different from business partnerships and certainly different from marriages, although they certainly have elements of both. My own musical collaborations tend to be quite longlasting, and the one I’m going to share today has not only survived, but grown and prospered and is now in its 40th year.

Chamber music requires a player to make music according to a different set of priorities. It’s not just about practicing your part and playing it well.