>> Anne McLean: This
wonderful sense of voyaging,
I feel that we were on a voyage
in this beautiful concert,
and especially in the
Anjna Swaminathan piece,
gorgeous and so peaceful.
And I have questions for
you about the challenges.
You've said that
sometimes working
on these pieces stretched
you in certain ways.
And I was interested in
how, and particularly
on the last piece,
are you a guitarist?
>> Johnny Gandelsman: I mean,
clearly I'm not a
guitarist or a singer.
>> Anne McLean: Have
you been one?
>> Johnny Gandelsman: No,
I mean, you know, yeah,
I wanted to try and overcome --
well, my goal is to do what
the composers are asking of me
to do, which is the same thing
I do in any work of, you know,
any piece of music
that I work on.
But yeah, in this case, some
of the things that I was --
there were some techniques on
the violin that I was unfamiliar
with that, you know, I really
had to stretch my ability
and also just my imagination.
Because it's really, it's
never about the technique,
it's about the effect that
the composer's going for --
this, you know, playing
a different instrument.
And, you know, it's
funny, I really was excited
about the works as they
were being composed.
And then when I was faced with
things that were a challenge
or that I was unfamiliar with,
my first reaction was, you know,
total sense of fear, right.
And in retrospect,
it's this thing
that we all worldwide
are familiar with,
which is that we are all afraid
of the unfamiliar and the thing
that we don't know
and it seems foreign
and there's a sense
of trepidation.
So I was very lucky that the
composers were very kind and,
you know, like gently guided
me into their thought process
and what they were going for.
And so to get through -- I mean,
I haven't overcome all the
fears, but to get through
and be able to kind of embrace
it, it's a big lesson for me.
>> Anne McLean: You know,
the Swaminathan piece,
it has such a sense of
calm, and yet you're going
through many, many ideas.
And you as a violinist are
projecting this incredible
gorgeous tone and
beauty throughout.
And I was wondering, did
you coach this at all
with her in those ways?
>> Johnny Gandelsman:
Well, they wrote, you know,
a lot of instructions
and there's some videos
about techniques
that one could use.
But it's also music that I
love listening to, you know,
Carnatic music or
Hindustani music.
I mean, definitely not
an expert, but I do have
like just a lot of joy
being in that world.
And they create such an
incredible world just
with the tape, you know, and
hearing this conversation
between Anjna and their partner
is so wonderful and so intimate.
It's a beautiful
world to be a part of.
>> Anne McLean: The tape,
was this an integral part
of their project from the
beginning, their concept?
>> Johnny Gandelsman: I
think it developed kind
of in the middle of the process.
>> Anne McLean: And that's
something I was interested
in hearing you talk about
a little bit in the sense
that you've developed
this huge 24 piece cycle,
which you now have recorded.
And I would like to know
how you began the process
with each person.
First off, did you
have a huge concept
in your mind at the beginning?
>> Johnny Gandelsman:
No, not really.
I mean, it's kind of, you
know, evolved throughout.
I knew that I wanted
to commission a few.
And then there was
a lot of enthusiasm,
both from the composers
and presenters.
And so then the few
turned to many, you know.
And I just wanted to see,
okay, like how many can we get?
And I was trying to get
to 20, and then, you know,
we got to 21st, it's like,
all right, let's keep going.
>> Anne McLean: It's amazing.
>> Johnny Gandelsman: And it was
nice because it was a nice way
to support composers, you know,
just financially during
the pandemic, you know.
It was 2020 or 2021, and
there was not much going on,
as everybody knows.
But now it's really nice to
have this collection of work.
And I have my list of
composers and musicians that I'd
like to work with, is so much
longer than 24, you know.
So I'm excited that there's
some conversation about trying
to expand the collection
further,
so this might be
just volume one.
>> Anne McLean: Some
of them were new.
I understand Anjna was
new to you, I believe?
>> Johnny Gandelsman:
Yeah, yeah, many were new.
The people that were recommended
by friends or people that I knew
from afar but wasn't really
familiar with their work.
But a lot of them
were also friends.
And it was a great chance to
commission work from friends,
which also was really nice.
>> Anne McLean: In the process
of talking with composers,
how did it work when you first
began talking, where just sort
of everything is out on
the table for discussion?
Multimedia, how did you arrive
at some of those collaborations?
>> Johnny Gandelsman: I
really left it pretty open
to what the composers
wanted to do.
So yeah, I just, all I asked for
was a piece of a certain length,
which was about five
to 10 minutes.
Which is funny because Anjna's
piece is about 20 minutes,
and there's another one that's
25 minutes, which I love.
It's like, if I'm going to
write, I'm going to write.
And then I just asked to,
you know, to think about,
to reflect in some way on the
time that we're experiencing.
And some people chose
to do it very directly,
and some indirectly, and some
chose not to do it at all.
And that was totally fine.
>> Anne McLean: I love your
comment in an article I read
where you said, I invite you
to stop reading the pundits
and to listen to music and
to engage with this music.
And I think that
is great advice.
>> Johnny Gandelsman:
Okay, great.
[ Applause ]
>> Anne McLean: I was thinking
about two things about emotions
that struck me while
reading about this
and while hearing you.
And one is that both
Clarice Assad
and Anjna Swaminathan speak
of hope in their comments
and their program notes.
And Olivia Davis also
talks about the potential
for hope and betterment.
Do you view these as
a gesture toward hope?
I do. And how has this changed
your life as a musician,
as an artist, this
process, this project?
>> Johnny Gandelsman:
Well, I mean, you know,
I think many musicians --
I'm not actually one of them.
But many musicians are
optimists by nature.
I'm not known for my optimism.
But, I mean, you know, I think,
to me, it just gave a sense
of purpose in a time where also
there was not much going on.
And just to lift this thing
off the ground was, you know,
it was a lot of work, but
it felt really worthwhile.
And my hope is that more people
will both play these works --
and they've already started.
You know, people already
started reaching out,
looking for scores.
And that the composers
will get new commissions
from other people.
Yeah, you know, it's like
we're all in this community.
It feels good to be a
part of it and just kind
of push the thing forward.
>> Anne McLean: Hope and
the sense of joy comes
across so strongly in your
performance of these works
that you have really
brought about.
And I was thinking about a
comment from Martin Hayes,
the Irish fiddler, who is, I
believe, a friend of yours.
>> Johnny Gandelsman:
Very close friend, yeah.
>> Anne McLean: He's
an amazing artist.
And he has been saying
that "for every evening --
in the course of an evening,
I want to touch free
abandon and joy."
That's what you bring.
It's remarkable.
>> Johnny Gandelsman: Martin
has been like a huge inspiration
to me ever since I first
met him was Brooklyn Rider,
a project with him that's been
going on for about 10 years.
And that is exactly
what you see and feel
when you see him perform,
the sense of total
freedom and abandonment.
And just like he kind of loses
his physical body and just,
I don't know, he's a magician.
And that was my goal
when I actually started
learning the Cello Suites,
I wanted to get to that
place where it felt
like what was coming out was
not music that was written
but just kind of like
a flow of energy.
So I'm still working on that.
But Martin is great.
>> Anne McLean: You have such a
lightness and airiness in this.
And, of course, some of it, I'm
sure, is your long involvement
with folk music of many
traditions and so on.
But I was curious, I know you've
recorded this using a five
string violin, and I
wondered what that brought
to your concept or your
sound world for that?
>> Johnny Gandelsman: Oh, well,
the five string violin was
something that I originally got
to play the six Cello Suites,
because that was written
for a five string
instrument, and I just wanted
to have that experience.
But, of course, and, you know,
I come from the classical
tradition
where the five string violin
is not really seen very much,
but it is very prominent
in folk music, right.
Like so many people have
five string instruments,
and it's also used on
Broadway and stuff.
But it's just -- and also, you
know, different tunings, right,
are very, very common
in folk tradition.
So experimenting was -- for
Rhiannon's piece, it makes sense
to -- it's nice to have
that low string to just ring
and give a little
oomph to everything.
And the tuning for that
was just D's and G's.
And she didn't write it that
way, but it just sounds good.
And for Anjna's piece, once
I started working on it
in the studio, it felt like
also in certain moments,
this idea of the drone,
which is so present
in music, would be nice.
And since I'm only
one person, you know,
even though there's tape,
but to have that low end kind
of ringing was nice as well.
So yeah. And Terry
Riley wrote a new piece
for a five string violin for
this project, so there's that.
>> Anne McLean: So thinking back
to Anjna's piece, maybe to sort
of wrap up a little bit with,
their piece asks a
timeless question about,
how do we understand each other?
We are so separated
from everyone, by space,
time, experience, and race.
And thinking about your
program with these pieces,
which expressed such
hope, such joy,
what is your feeling
about moving forward?
How can we think in a new way?
What's the role of the artist
in thinking of a new way?
Can our culture evolve?
That's a new one.
>> Johnny Gandelsman:
Do you have any serious
questions, I mean [laughing]?
>> Anne McLean: But
no, seriously,
having created this
remarkable huge project,
its impact on you
has been profound,
and on listeners
has been profound.
Has it changed the way
you view the harsh world
that we are seeming to find
ourselves in these days?
>> Johnny Gandelsman: Well,
you know, this process
of being afraid of something or
of someone and then overcoming
that fear was a big lesson.
And the other thing is that
a good friend has often said
that in order to get
to know somebody,
you find out what they're
really passionate about.
And that's what I
love about the work,
was new music with composers.
It was all musicians, really.
It's like, that's what we do,
we kind of talk about the things
that we really love, and
then invite other people
into that world and
create something new.
And that process is magical.
So if we could just take that
and apply it everywhere
else, that would be great.
[ Applause ]
>> Anne McLean: I think this
is a good note to end on.
It's a remarkable concert
that you've given us,
an extraordinary evening.
And we thank you so much.
And we hope to see you again.
>> Johnny Gandelsman: Thank you.
>> Anne McLean: We also would
like to thank Washington
Performing Arts, Jenny Bilfield.
>> Johnny Gandelsman:
Thank you, everybody.
>> Anne McLean: Samantha
Pollack, Kala Loree,
all the colleagues from there.
>> Johnny Gandelsman:
Thank you so much.
[ Applause ]