You probably have a friend like this: No matter how long it's been since you've gotten together last, you just pick up where you left off. It's as though you were never separated.
That is the scene as Vadim Gluzman, ProMusica Chamber Orchestra's creative partner and principal guest artist, and Philippe Quint, his close friend and ProMusica's Soirée guest, walk into the Classical 101 studios earlier this week.
I had a lively conversation with Gluzman and Quint, prior to ProMusica's annual Soirée, 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 11 at the Southern Theatre.
Asking a simple question such as, "How did you two meet?," sets off verbal jockeying and jabs—not to mention a fair amount of uncontrolled laughter. In this moment, they are no longer world-class violinists. Rather, they are back in school, trading verbal barbs and elbow jabs.
With the stage set, here are some highlights from my recent conversation with the two violinists.
Dueling Violins, their signature two-man performance, was conceived in the fertile minds of Gluzman and Quint. Their friendship began in school.
The idea for Dueling Violins has morphed over time, but I think both of them were quite doubtful they would ever actually share a stage.
Gluzman plays the ex-“Auer” Antonio Stradivari violin, which he has spoken about from the Southern Theatre stage. Both Gluzman and Quint play violins from the same collection. As for Quint’s violin?
You may have seen them in Thursday’s Columbus Dispatch. Just inside the front cover, the paper featured a photograph of Gluzman at the KIPP school, one of the schools participating in the Play Us Forward program with ProMusica. Gluzman and ProMusica Executive Director Janet Chen talked a bit about the 2-year-old program.
See Dueling Violins at ProMusica's Soirée, 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 11 at the Southern Theatre.