It was a really wonderful 10-day trip in Germany, we were so busy and having so much fun!
Kicking off the first few days with the string improv workshop in Ochsenhausen was such a treat. We always love the Landesakademie of Ochsenhausen, modified from a baroque monastery. The kind of tranquility is just not something you can get anywhere else, especially in New York City. I mean, come on, you see an ocean of stars in the sky at night!
Our students this year were phenomenal, they all came in with great passion and enthusiasm, some already knew how to improvise, some were old students from 2010, some were totally freshies but very eager to learn. I’ll have to say, we learned as much as they learned from us. The interesting thing with this workshop is always the age range, this year we had two elementary school kids, some people in their 20s, some in their 40s, 50s and 60s. Very seldom you get the chance to teach in a situation where you have all thi age variety.
We also recorded part of our new album at Bauer Studios in Ludwigsburg. The piece was Gregor’s Streichquintett Nr.1, performed together with his brother, Veit, on bass. Working with the tonmeister, Phillip Heck, was a joyful experience. He gave us so many simple but great suggestions, the session was done so smoothly and efficiently because of that.
The last two days of the show were a lot of fun, recording for a TV movie in Munich. We were given rough sketches of music and told to improvise them or come up with our own arrangements. That’s right up our alley! The local piano trio that we worked with in that session was amazing too, we thank them for their wonderful artistry and hope to play more in the future!
