When I share with people why I love chamber music so much, I tell them that for me, it all boils down to collaboration and dialog between musicians. Yes, singers are musicians too!! While its true that I have the additional component of singing and expressing text while I perform, my instrumental colleagues and I must strive to achieve a sense of ensemble at all times. In Baroque music, the vocal part often feels like an instrument in the orchestra, singing duets with a violin or flute for example. I don't have the mindset that the orchestra is accompanying me. There is often a playful interchange of imitation when employing ornamentation or dynamics. This kind of communication and spontaneity between musicians in chamber music is magical when we get it right, as if time is suspended and we are in a moment of rhythmic and harmonic connection that transcends ego, competition, judgement and the pressure of the outcome. We are daring to be in the moment and the resulting effect for everyone involved is timeless.

Chamber music is intimate and immediate. When you can see the faces and reactions of your audience, there is a tangible energy that flows between all parties involved. It is a human connection that our overly-exploited world benefits from. Chamber music is a genre that nurtures a tangible meeting of minds, hearts and souls.