by Mike Telin

Living in a camper for a year while traveling around the United States giving concerts in breweries, cafés, churches, and private homes — you can imagine musicians of many genres doing that, though we don’t often associate that lifestyle with classical musicians. But that’s exactly what cellist Steuart Pincombe and his vocalist wife Michelle have been doing for the past six months.

On Thursday, March 24 beginning at 7:00 pm, the yearlong Music in Familiar Spaces tour will make a stop at Nighttown for a concert titled “The Art of the Fugue.” The program, one of ten being offered on the tour, will feature Steuart Pincombe and Netherlands-based pianist Shuann Chai performing works by Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms. (Note: because of a family emergency, Ms. Chai will not appear on this program. Pincombe will play a concert of solo cello music.)

“Shuann and I will be playing some staples of the repertoire,” Pincombe said during a telephone interview from the camper. “The idea for the program literally came to me in the car. I was thinking about Brahms’s Cello Sonata No. 1 in e. It’s a piece I’ve played as long as I can remember, and it’s one of the first sonatas most cellists learn because it’s approachable. But what I had never really thought about is that the Sonata’s outer movements, the first and third, are directly related to Contrapuncti No. 4 and No. 13 from Bach’s Art of Fugue. It’s an obvious connection when you hear it.”   [Read more…]