An fantastic evening with Chi-chi Nwanoku

[Back blip from Friday, February 15, 2013]

I have been waiting, and waiting, and counting the days until today, and now it has come and gone. But what a wonderful, memorable evening!

Chi-chi Nwanoku is the UK's leading classical baroque double bassist. Chi-chi first came into my radar when my younger son Kim was studying bass while in high school. He was learning the first movement of a Dittersdorf Concerto in D maj for bass, so we picked up an outstanding CD of the piece performed by a bassist named Chi-chi Nwanoku to hear how it ought to sound!

Upon visiting Chi-chi's website, it was evident some major updates were in order. Long story short, yours truly performed the web makeover, and in doing so, got to know Chi-chi a little bit better. One thing I quickly learned was that she would be touring to Portland, OR in February of 2013 to perform with the Portland Baroque Orchestra. We both agreed it would be a fantastic opportunity for us to meet each other in person. And so we did, just this evening.

The venue for the performance was the beautiful First Baptist Church, in Portland, OR. Here are a few words, written for the evening's program by Chi-chi herself:

"This evening's program displays the intimate colors of the string family, and shows off the double bass in all its glory! From its usual role at the bottom of the texture, dancing through typical bass lines, supporting and propelling the ensemble, to regions rarely explored, walking the precipice in the lead role, demonstrating its lyrical and virtuosic prowess!" ..... "We will spend the evening in 18th-century Austria with a couple of visits to see what was going on in neighboring Italy."

The performance was nothing less than outstanding. Chi-chi's beautiful instrument (in photo above) was built by Nicola Amati, in Cremona, Italy in 1631! Only about six of these magnificent basses were built. Imagine if this instrument could speak and share with us some of its musical stories starting from 1631 until the present day. It is simply amazing to ponder who has held this bass in their hands, who has played it, perhaps Dragonetti, himself?

After the show, Rich and I had the good fortune to share a delicious dinner with Chi-chi at Jake's Famous Crawfish where we swapped stories, and enjoyed some outstanding food and drink. All in all, a fantastic, and most memorable evening!