The Violinmaker and The Virtuoso: Eric Benning and Vijay Gupta, American Craft Council

Описание: American Craft Forums presents "The Violinmaker and the Virtuoso": Craft from the Workshop to the Concert Hall

At its heart, craft is not a static endeavor. Whether you are working with a team of artists, as with glassblowing, or leaning into the “lone artist toiling in their studio” trope, craft lives and breathes, changes and grows between hands and spaces. When the object leaves the studio it takes on new life for someone else in a new place. For luthier Eric Benning of Benning Violins, craft lives through multiple generations of a family business that makes world-renowned stringed instruments for those just learning and those gracing some of the world’s greatest stages. When Benning completes a violin he doesn’t just hang it on the wall; it’s not decorative. He places that violin in the hands of someone like virtuoso violinist Vijay Gupta, who then uses it to direct his own creative force, his gift, his craft. This object that appears static and still, complete, continues its journey through Gupta’s playing.

Join us for a conversation between these two incredibly talented individuals who share a love of, and connection through, music and the instruments that give that music voice. They will discuss the symbiotic relationship between player and maker, explore ideas around how moments of transition and transformation can lead to great joy, and share the ways music can be employed to help other people. What kind of power and promise is inherent in this craft of making beautiful tools for another type of creative energy and expression?

"In Tune" by Elizabeth Foy Larsen: https://www.craftcouncil.org/magazine...

Recorded at Benning Violins on October 5, 2023 by Louis Ng