Hilary Hahn and Josh Ritter

In the history of music, there've been a lot of artists who team up with other artists, and when you hear their names together, you think "Huh?"

Bing Crosby and David Bowie, Allison Krauss and Robert Plant, M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel, Placido Domingo and John Denver...some were good and some were just weird.

But I was perusing YouTube today, and guess who I found? World-renowned violinist Hilary Hahn performing with the wonderful indie-alternative-folk singer Josh Ritter!

Maybe you know who Hahn is, but not Ritter. He is an independent musician that I first heard of a few years ago on Minnesota Public Radio. He writes great tunes to go with deep, poetic lyrics. His gravelly voice reminds me of Bob Dylan, but unlike Dylan, he looks like he's having fun while performing.

Hahn started out as a violin prodigy, studying from the age of 3, going to the Curtis Institute at 10, and signing onto her first recording contract when she was 16.

She's probably one of the greatest American violinists today.

I wondered how the two ever met, and found out that Hahn and Ritter's families were old friends. The two musicians decided to tour together in 2008.

I listen to music spanning over many genres, and honestly, I don't think I've ever heard such a great collaboration between two totally different musicians. They just bumped Allison Krauss and Robert Plant to #2 on my list.

If you watch the video of Hahn and Ritter playing his tune "Bone of Song" in Switzerland, there was something in the beginning that I found interesting. The duo came out for their encore, and Hahn basically told the audience, "This isn't classical music, but I'm going to play it, and if you don't like it you can leave." Then in another video from later in the evening, Ritter thanks the audience for sticking around to hear his brand of folk music, when they usually expect Mozart or Bach. And I'm sure he liked the change of venues from a rowdy bar in New York to a concert hall in Europe.

If you look and listen closely, there are lots of ways classical music has shaken its reputation of being an institution of snobby, stuffy old birds who want to hear their classical greatest hits: Conductors are actually talking to/with the audience about repetoire, more contemporary and avant-garde works are being performed, and there's a seemingly endless stream of young talent who draw inspiration and technique from many different wells. But there's still not a lot of sanctioned mixing between the classical and the popular worlds. I say, why not? The last chamber music concert I was at, the young conducter and violin soloist not only was a captivating performer well-schooled in Bach and Sebelius, but also toured with bands as a jazz violinist. I didn't even know jazz violin existed!

I think that through the collaboration with musicians of different styles, it gives the artists and listeners a chance to learn. Ritter himself has said he gained a new appreciation for Schubert after working with Hahn, and he loved strumming along to Paganini with her, even though he wasn't a classically trained guitarist. Hahn loved that she was challenged to improvise her solos, and just do something totally different for her regular audience.

I think it'd be cool to see more collaborations like these in the music world. It would make up for the Crosby/Bowie, Domingo/Denver pairings, at least.

On the journey

Photo: a present to yourself. Sift through all the photos of you from the past year. Choose one that best captures you; either who you are, or who you strive to be. Find the shot of you that is worth a thousand words. Share.

This photo was taken in August by Pastor Randy. Our group was walking back from the village of Mahove to our bus for a return trip to Tungamalenga. We were walking because Mahove is very remote, up a mountain, several kilometers off the dirt road. Every other time I've been there, I'd taken a Land Rover and had to replace a tire that was punctured along the way.

We had been to Mahove to talk about bringing water to this sprawling village. The women and children walk about 3 miles one way to get water for their village. Men don't fetch water. There is a wonderful, inspiring Bibi (grandmother) in the village who has persevered in her quest to bring water to this village. She visits the parish office (miles away) and continues to ask for help in bringing water to the village. We have heard this request for several years, and finally the parish placed this need as the number one priority on their list of partnership projects.

So in the village, we had met this time with local government officials. It's important to talk through the details with all the stakeholders in a project like this. Sometimes we'd like to just go in and make the project happen, but we've learned to listen first and follow the pace of our African partners.

I like a couple things about this photo. I have a newly framed enlargement of it on my wall at home, and every time I look at it I'm compelled to walk toward it. Is it because of the path? or to get a closer look? It draws me in, every time.

I like it because it puts me in perspective. Yes, it's a picture of me walking alongside Pastor Naftal, on the path from Mahove toward Makifu. I like that we are holding hands and are deep in conversation. But we are so small on this path in the vast landscape. What we're doing is important, but it's just part of something so much larger than we ourselves.

As I go from 2010 into 2011, I want to remember to enjoy the journey and all that it brings--the sweat, the effort, the long walks, the conversation, the purpose, the holding hands, the vast landscape, and being a small piece of something much larger than myself.