by Kathleen Brauer
Some of the most peculiar gigs I've played were with a string quartet. One was at Eagle Tavern in Greenfield Village, at the Henry Ford Museum. The building had no electric lighting, so we played quartets by the light of candles in glass hurricane shades. It gave me a new appreciation for how challenging it is to read music by candlelight, and I suppose it could be considered a historically informed performance!
Another quartet concert where the circumstances added to the challenge was at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Johnson Wax Building in Racine, Wisconsin where we had to play while sitting on three-legged chairs. We had to be careful not to fall out of the chairs when giving cues to our colleagues.