National Music Museum in South Dakota (Robert)

Joining the FSQ merely two months ago, I’ve already had many wonderful experiences, both musically and personally.  Becky, Brad, and Anne are such fabulous musicians and truly terrific people to spend time with, whether it’s on stage, in a minivan, or eating deep-fried cheese curds.   I’m so excited and honored to carry the FSQ torch into the future!

Playing 10-15 concerts of the same program in short succession is something I’ve not had the opportunity to do since my Jupiter Trio days, so joining the FSQ has been a delight on that front.  The concerts have been great and the creative spirit and spontaneity in performance is so much fun! Each piece seems to transform in new and wonderful ways every time we play.  I feel quite lucky to have landed on this great team, having spent the last couple of years as a wandering minstrel-for-hire.

In addition to concerts, the FSQ has had its fair share of adventures on this tour.  One of the highlights in this regard was our visit to the National Music Museum at the University of South Dakota in Vermilion.

This magnificent, world-class collection houses musical instruments from an astounding variety of musical languages, time periods, styles, and continents.  At the entrance to the museum are several statues, including one of a quite dignified gentleman playing the violin.  

At one point, I attempted to get him to relax his bow-arm a bit, but he proved to be quite resistant.  I left the encounter wondering whether I needed to reassess my approach to proper bow-arm pedagogy.

Of primary interest to us string players, the museum proudly displays great examples of violins, violas, and cellos from such legendary masters of the 16^th, 17^th, and 18^th centuries as Stradivarious, Amati (Nicolo, Andrea, Brothers), Andrea Gaurneri, and Gasparo de Salo, just to name a few.  A particularly enticing find was a very early cello, the King, by Andrea Amati, made in 1538!  Below, Anne and Brad enjoy the chance to see a few of these amazing instruments, if wishing more to hear or even play them!

The treasures of this museum extend far beyond classical stringed instruments by great makers, however.  Some of our favorites were the stove-pipe cello, the viola-pomposa, and the barrel-cello, pictured below.

In wondering how one would actually play such an odd creation, we were directed to this picture, (worth AT LEAST a thousand words)….

After such a culturally enriching experience, it was time to move on to nearby Yankton, SD, where we found inspiration for that evening’s concert in the form of a collection of theater costumes backstage…

In discussing the possibility of wearing these costumes for our performance, wiser heads eventually prevailed.

After our concert and a quick post-concert meal, we retreated to the hotel, assuming the day was over, only to find another surprise experience waiting for us in a nearby hotel room.  What apparently started with complaints about loud TV noises past midnight coming from a particular room, developed into agitated hotel staff attempting to wake a drunk, passed-out patron who had locked himself inside this particular room (TV blaring) and ended (at 2 AM) with several expletive-laden altercations involving hotel patrons, staff, local police and, finally, the drunken patron himself.  Underslept and less-than-charmed, we left the next morning feeling grateful that we didn’t have another concert to play until the following day!