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Our first activity was at the Kazakh National Conservatory, where we listened to a quartet play Shostakovitch's eighth string quartet. This quartet was a very talented group, and their performance of Shostakovitch was very mature for a group of younger players. The students there seemed very professional and questioned us about the difference between European and American playing, which was the first time we were asked this type of question. We then went back to the hotel and rested before our concert at the small hall of the Conservatory. A lot of our new friends in Almaty attended, including Stephen, his wife Marie, and a few of their children, as well as Jim and Renate Kenney. (Jim is the former public affairs officer and now principal officer at the embassy.) My best memory of that concert was seeing Stephen in the front row with his family smiling at the last page of the concert. My shoulder-rest fell off, and he thought that was funny. Also amusing was the interview that we gave to the local television station during intermission. The interviewers seemed obsessed with Susie's lack of makeup. Maybe they thought that we would look better in the stage lights. For dinner, we went to an Indian restaurant and stayed probably later than we should have listening to our friends describing their memorable experiences in the region.
- Joe
(A young quartet playing Shostakovich at the Conservatory in Almaty, Kazakhstan)
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