First Log

Dear Friends,

I'm writing this to you who have contributed in so many ways to help make this coming week possible for me and my musical partners. Most of you cannot be present at the sessions for various reasons so I will be keeping you in the loop, hopefully on a daily basis, so that you can share in the process that you helped to make a reality.

It has been an amazing journey so far. It began a year ago this month when Susan said to me one night under the stars in the driveway having just gotten home from one of my concerts, "You HAVE to make a recording, and here's how you can do it." Then as I became overwhelmed at the thought of mounting such a project, 6 months ago, my singing partner Marguerite said, "This is totally possible, we can make this work, let's record the Pergolesi!"

Then I contacted Steve Barnett, the producer from Minneapolis who did all of the Chanticleer recordings. I was looking for a recommendation for a producer and recording engineer on the west coast who might be within our budget. I told him the budget and he said we would need more no matter who we used, and that he would love to be a part of the project. Then more of you came forward offering donations and support of all kinds, making it possible, one miracle at a time, one piece of the puzzle at a time, to make a recording with players, producers, engineers, instruments and venues that are some of the best in the world.

Marguerite and her husband Mark flew in from NY on Wednesday, and today we picked up Bradley, our keyboard player, who flew in from NY, and Preston Smith, the sound engineer from the Chanticleer recordings who has worked on everything from Prairie Home Companion to full orchestra recordings, who came from Minneapolis. Tomorrow we pick up Steve, our producer, the Klop organ from Berkeley, and load instruments and recording equipment into St. Stephen's Church in Belvedere where we will record.

So here I stand at the beginning of one of the most amazing weeks of my life. And to all of you I say thank you. I feel truly blessed and incredibly supported at this moment.
And so I am.

Love,
Chris