I met Maria and Tom in the autumn of 1994 in Canada, in the wonderful Banff Centre for the Arts. We played a lot of music together, and then we spent long nights talking and having fun. It was an unforgettable time. 

Occasionally I used to meet Tom in London, and twice he was a guest at Convergences. Maria and I played and toured briefly as a Trio after Banff. After that time we only saw each other one more time, in New York City.

As of March 2020, all three of us found ourselves in isolation, both personally and artistically, yet somehow by a natural process we began to communicate through social networks, to encourage one another, and to notice what we were doing in the course of this strange time.

In late June Maria came up with the idea of doing an online concert together, which would be an adventure, a revolutionary move for us all. From three countries and two continents, with the help of fine technicians and contemporary capabilities, we would play music in real time. The human desire to play and to create can currently overcome not just mountains but literally the oceans. In the USA, Britain, and Slovakia, concert life is still limited, but we do not want to abandon the international dimension of our festival and the friendships bound up with it, and so we are doing things this way. Each of us will be playing at home, yet we will not be alone. 


The programme consists of piano trios by Joseph Haydn, Vladimír Godár and Astor Piazzolla. I am especially happy we will perform piece by my friend and prominent Slovak composer Vladimír Godár, which we will dedicate to the tragic anniversary of 9/11. Every rehearsal for this concert is an experience in virtual space, and at the same time a promise of new possibilities which we didn’t even know existed. Link up and experience this together with us!

Jozef Lupták
Cello

I met Maria and Jozef while on a fall/winter residency at Banff Center for the arts some 25 years ago. The circumstances there were pretty much idyllic, not only for creative endeavours, but also for making friendships, which in some cases were to endure for years to come. So it was that I reconnected with Maria Garcia recently during a trip she made to London with her wonderful 20 Digitus Duo. During the course of her stay we were able to catch up, and even rekindle friendships with our wider circle who also attended the residency.

I had somehow maintained my connection with cellist Jozef Luptak, who lives in his native Bratislava. His Konvergencie festival invited my group Living Room in London to give a concert a few years ago. Jozef also visits London from time to time, and we’ve stayed in touch that way. Maria and I remembered the Banff days when we played together in various groups, including a piano trio with Jozef, and mused that we might somehow play together again.

When COVID-19 hit the UK, like many musicians, I suddenly faced weeks and months ahead with no work. Being a member of the London Symphony Orchestra, one of the busiest orchestras on the planet, I had mixed feelings about this! At first, I saw it as an unplanned sabbatical – an opportunity to pursue another interest, perhaps, like photography, or composition. But it wasn’t long before I realized that the violin would have to come out, and I would need to do something to stay in shape!

My wife and I had created a chamber music series in our local community, and we quickly decided to use Zoom, the conferencing platform, to connect with our audience over the weeks ahead. Concerts that we had planned were re-imagined into a format where we pre-recorded duo pieces, collaborated with our pianist using various software recording platforms including Acapella, which is a nifty way of putting various parts of an ensemble together at a distance. This proved to be a highly successful venture with our audience, who were appreciative of our efforts, despite the sound quality and video not always being great, and never a replacement for a live concert.

When Maria Garcia mentioned a new idea involving a special platform that might allow live performance in real time for a live audience, I was very keen and intrigued to find out more. I’m so happy to be able to try this out and get in a ‘virtual’ room with fellow musicians – particularly with Maria and Jozef, and especially as our busy non-COVID lives don’t give us the opportunity to play together.

Tom Norris
Violin