First performance

Just got back from the first concert of the tour. Wow. What an incredible experience. I am happy to say that it went very well. I thought that I played pretty well, and I got a very good reaction after the show from many people. This was my first time performing in front of so many people. There were probably 5,000 people or more in attendance. It is an incredible feeling. After the first piece I played in, Wine Madness, I felt like I was still catching my breath after I was off stage, perhaps more metaphorically than lyrically, but the feeling was there. Later came Ambush to end the program. The sound engineer Jody generously lent me his steel string Ovation acoustic guitar for this piece, which fits the feeling of the piece much better than my Archguitar. Someone told me that the piece sounded like a western movie a la Clint Eastwood, but set in China, and I took that as a compliment. Ambush is a very old Chinese song, which has been arranged for the group in a way that incorporates a bluesy/rock kind of feeling in places.

The ensemble's musicianship and technical ability is about as high as I've seen, but beyond that, the joy and freedom in their music making is profound. What an experience. And the post-concert feeling of euphoria was terrific. I need to mention how supportive Yo-Yo Ma has been of me throughout the past few days. He is one of the most genuine people I have ever met, and he has been ridiculously encouraging and kind. Brilliant man. I never feel pressured making music with him, or with the group in general, and he has made a point of telling me that I am doing a good job many times throughout the past few days, which really means a lot. Because who am I, next to this great man? But to sit next to him when he is playing the cello...wow!