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WKXL - New Hampshire Talk Radio

Artful Living with Jessica Tong & Kurt Rohde | Guest Hosted by Ashley Bathgate

Please welcome guest host Ashley Bathgate, executive and artistic director of Avaloch Farm Music Institute, as she discusses the upcoming Composers Conference with Co-Artistic Director Jessica Tong, and Kurt Rohde, Artistic Director of the Composers Conference. Join us!

Duration:
44m
Broadcast on:
16 Jul 2024
Audio Format:
mp3
(upbeat music) - Good morning, everyone. You're listening to WK XL 1450 AM 103.9 FM Concord and 101.9 FM in Manchester. I am your host today, Ashley Bathgate. This is Artful Living. And I'm very grateful to WK XL and Jane for allowing me to be a guest host today. We are going to talk about a lot of things music. So for those of you who have tuned in before and I guess for those who haven't, I am the executive and artistic director at Avilock Farm Music Institute. And I have here with me today my co-artistic director at Avilock Jessica Tong and also Kurt Rodey, who is a composer, violist, and also the artistic director of the Composers Conference, which is the festival and that's going to be happening starting on Monday at Avilock for three weeks. And so we're going to talk about the festival and Avilock and all things music here today. I guess to start with, so in past episodes, Jane and I have talked a lot about what the institute is. We have these residency programs. We have Friday night concerts at the concert barn that are open to the community. And during the conference, by the way, we're going to have about double the amount of concerts. So there will be many during the week as well as on Fridays and some Saturdays. And we will also be celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Composers Conference on August 4th. So there's a lot of things that you can attend. And if you haven't been to a concert already, it's a beautiful spot located in Bosque and New Hampshire. It used to be an apple orchard that is now a music institute. And we have musicians who are coming from all over the world to be in residence there and to perform there. So I'm going to start by talking a little bit to Jessica, who is my co-director as I mentioned. She's also a fantastic violinist. I've known her for many years. We've been making music together and also have been good friends for a long time. And so Jessica, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your journey getting to where we are at Avilock? Yeah, I'm so delighted to be here finally in person with you here at the radio station. I am a violinist, as Ashley said. I came to Avilock many, many moons ago, like Ashley when it first came into being and had the wonderful opportunity to have a residency where I was able to work on a concert program that I was going to go touring on. And it was an incredible magical experience to be in an environment where I was completely cared for in every way that allowed me really to focus just on my creative output. And that's been on my mind for many years of what a unique experience this was. And so I think when you and I came years later again and then had the opportunity to approach it from the other side about how we might be able to enhance this program and enhance this residency for other musicians and for musicians to come in future generations, we kind of both jumped at the chance even though we had never envisioned that going for half of your life to a music conservatory would lead to also a life where you spend just as many hours in front of a computer trying to organize everything. And it's been a wild ride, we have been here for almost, I think we're at the end of two years starting our third year or third summer here. And in that short time, we've had such a growth of musicians applying to Avilock for our residency program. And we've had the wonderful opportunity to partner artistically with all sorts of incredible organizations from Dartmouth and Concord Community Music School, the Composers Conference, Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble are just some of the examples. But they've really been able to bring a whole wealth and a whole new dimension of artistry and are also generously sharing the wealth of their musicians with the community here, which I think is so, so, so exciting. Absolutely. And just so you have a little bit of a backstory, so much has happened so quickly at Avilock. And I think what's fun for us is that, of course, as you're going through life, you have many artistic dreams and hopefully we're living, some of them. But when we started working at Avilock, I remember taking a walk with you and we were like, wouldn't this be great for a concert space? What we could have like a barn, it could be like Tanglewood, it could be like Marlboro, like all of these festivals that we've attended, you know, all over the place. And I think in a short year, we had accomplished that and built a concert space so that we could offer concerts to the community and invite the community to be part of what Avilock is. And so it's really magical to see that actually coming to fruition and happening. And both of us have been teaching at the Composers Conference for the past several years. We've been involved a lot longer than I have and you're also the director of the Chamber Music Workshop at the conference. Do you want to talk a little bit about that part of it? - Well, I think perhaps it's only fitting that if we're going to talk about the Composers Conference, we should introduce our third guest today on the program, Kurt Rode, our artistic director and composer and violist extraordinaire as well. - Hi, Kurt. - Hello. - Tell us about yourself. - Myself or the conference? - Both. - Both. - Let's start with the conference and then we could work backwards to me. Yeah, the Composers Conference is sort of a fascinating festival entity organization institution. We're celebrating our 80th year this summer. And it, in a lot of ways, is one of the most important laboratories for composers that's existed all these decades where they get to come and workshop and then perform, get, get, perform new works by professional or ensemble. And also get to work with mentor composers who are really important on the scene at that particular time. I was actually a composer fellow back in the late 90s, which is now a long time ago, sadly, but it's true, it's actually a long time ago. And it was really a pivotal time for me in my life, but also as a composer, it sort of made me realize, actually, I did want to do this. It was something I felt was the right choice. Finally, it was the right choice. And to have decades later the opportunity to be, you know, working with others to help steer the conference in a new direction and help the next generations of young creative people has really been such an honor and a real thrill. So this summer we were basically having the same format where we invite young composers to work with mentor composers. We have a young contemporary performance institute which brings very young ensembles who are specializing in new music to come and perform, prepare and perform new works. We have a new music conductor fellowship for somebody who is very interested in working specifically on new music and conducting the newest work that is being created. We have the Chamber of Music Workshop which intersects in a number of different ways with all these other parts of the conference. And we also have a number of commissioning programs that are really active, one of which is the Susan Horvath Chamber of Music Workshop Commission where we ask a composer fellow from the previous year to come back and write a piece which involves a number of the different types of performers at the conference for the next summer. And most recently is the New Music New Communities Initiative which brings our youngest creative folks into the conference. And these are young musicians from Concord, from the community. They come from various community music schools in the greater New Hampshire area. In the greater New Hampshire area. And they are working with our young composer fellows over the course of the past several months to create these new works which we performed at the conference. There's a lot of different things that are just happening all at the same time. And can you talk a little bit, so what year was the conference, I mean we're in the 80th anniversary but I can't do math, so what was the year that it was created and where was it created and who created it? Yeah so it was created in 1944/45 and it's such a strange time to think that this is when, here we are towards the middle and the turning point of the Second World War and then the United States, some composers got together and New England decided hey, you know. Let's start a contemporary music festival. Yeah and what's really interesting is that, you know, Mario Dovidovsky who's one of the most important composers the last part of the 20th century, early part of the 21st century and who taught at Harvard and Columbia for a number of years was the artistic director for a number of decades. And I think that he really sort of embodied this ethos of there being a place where people could come and feel very free and do what they wanted to do without feeling like they had to do it differently. Yeah, absolutely. Well we'll talk more about that. After a short break, you are listening to Artful Living, WKSL1450AM103.9 FM Concord and 101.9 FM in Manchester. We'll be right back. [ Music ] >> Welcome back everyone. Ashley Bethgate here, your host on Artful Living. This is WKSL1450AM103.9 FM Concord and 101.9 FM in Manchester. For those of you who are just joining us, we are speaking to Jessica Tong, who is the co-artistic director at Avilock Farm Music Institute, also a director at the Composers Conference. And we have Kurt Rodey, who is the artistic director of the Composers Conference. We were just talking about how this festival began 80 years ago, what it's about, and that we're fostering new music, and composers who are in various stages of their careers, and it's a mentoring festival in many ways. So do you want to continue, you are sort of in the middle of describing, I guess, what it is. And I'd like to know more about, first of all, how does this fit well at Avilock Farm in the sense of what we are and what we can offer, and also a little bit of a window into the creative process. So when these composers are, like, what happens when they get there, and what is the work that they're doing? Sure. I think that the way that the Conference and Avilock Farm Music Institute work together are really sort of reflecting both the two sides of the same thing, which is that there needs to be space out of everyday life or the world that we have to just navigate every day, where we can really put everything else to the side, and focus on the types of things we creatively really want to do in an intensive fashion without feeling like you're being maybe being judged or assessed. The world itself is always doing that to us. So to be in a space where that is not surrounding you and sort of impacting you all the time is invaluable. As Jessica mentioned, to be at a place also where you're being basically cared for so that you can have that energy to focus just on what you need to be doing is that just doesn't really happen very-- we're not afforded that opportunity much at all. If you're really trying to be a creative person in today's world, you have to work so hard not just to shut everything else out, but also just carve out the time and the psychic energy to make it possible to do that. Otherwise, you just sort of never end up doing it. At the Conference itself, what we hope to do is to create spaces where everyone can really feel very open to having the types of discussions that are important to them, to discuss what it means to make stuff and to make it in a way that is going to be the best that they can offer at the time that they're making it. The other thing that I think is really interesting about the conference is that we are able to bring two mentor composers each year. This year, we have Marcos Balter and Kayrie. It's important for us to bring mentor composers who are coming from different parts of the country, teaching in different types of institutions, who are different stages of their career, but are really making exceptional work that's admired, that has a type of highly individual voice, and really shows a level of expertise and skill that these are people who are serious about what they're doing, and they want to share what they're doing with others. Then the young composers come and they basically have these meetings every day where we're just discussing how the work is actually being made, what are the problems about that one confronts when they're trying to make work, what are the things you're trying to achieve in the work, when you're actually going into a rehearsal, how do you negotiate just the interactions with performers? Because I think a lot of times it's a social-- being a musician is extremely social, but it's different types of social, so it can be from one on one to multiple people that you're interacting with with the players, and then with the audience, it's so fluid and very dynamic and can be confusing, and you always want to be your best self in those situations, but you also want to be able to bring to all the conversations the things that you feel are going to be the most informative, the most valuable, and the most you, you want to be you. I think that's the one thing that I, as artist director, really want to promote at the conferences that people can be themselves. Well, and I think it's important to surround yourselves with the right people in that aspect because that's a lifelong journey. Who am I? Am I comfortable with myself? And I know certainly where I am in that journey, and I remember what it's like to be in your early 20s and really not know or have any idea what the path forward is. And so I think it is important right to be in a room and discussing these things with some of your peers and composers. You were going to say something, Jessica. Yeah. I would like to also just add that I think, especially since Kurt, you've come on board, one of your big goals has been to integrate all of these different arms of the composers' conference so that they can act symbiotically. And I think what's really beautiful about the conference is that it's almost like a microcosm of how we imagine like a creative world to be. Because you have performers, you have composers, you have people who absolutely love music and are curious and want to know more. And the fact that we can have everybody together interacting not only on a musical level, but on a social level every day in between to have lectures and conversations and master classes. It's really an opportunity for everybody to learn more about each other. And we are all part of a different ecosystem outside in the world that helps the musical world flourish. And so to have a hand in being able to serve as a catalyst for that to happen, I think you've done this incredible job of having everybody really be much more supportive and interactive of one another. And I think that aspect is also reflected very much in the ethos of Avilock, which also seeks to bring in all these musicians from all around the world who are incredible artists in their own right, but who might not intersect every day in the type of genre and music that others are doing. And it's a chance for each one to share their gifts with another and to be inspired by one another. And I think there is a parallel between, I think when we were working to bring the conference to Avilock after 70, 78 years elsewhere, that was really, I think for me, a driving force of why I thought this was a really good pairing to have a festival that has this unique opportunity to build a true sense of community amongst musicians and music lovers of all sorts and to have that at Avilock, which is a place that I think that is part of the fundamental value of why Avilock was built in the first place. - Absolutely, well, let's talk a little bit more about that community that we're creating during this festival. So we have, first of all, it's one of the, as a cellist and as a champion of new music, I've been playing new music for the majority of my career. And I would say that what's wonderful about the conference is that you have one of the finest ensembles who are performing the music of these younger composers, which is not something I think they normally have. Like people, not only excellent players, but those who specialize in contemporary music. And I feel like they're very fortunate to have that. And you know, these musicians are also like from all of it, you know, Northeast and West Coast and what have you. And so can you talk a little bit about the ensemble as the first part of this community, I guess? - Sure, sure. Yeah, so the conference ensemble, which is directed by our music director and conductor, then by Kaziboni, is made up of these exceptional musicians, but also exceptional people, they're so generous. I just am always taken with the fact that new music musicians come in all shapes and sizes and different types of temperaments. But they're not, it's not always, you know, it's not always the easiest thing to bring a new piece to life. It can be, you know, it can be challenging and frustrating at times. And I think that what's really impressive about the conference ensemble is that they are able to navigate so many different types of new music and just take it in with such, yeah, generosity and also just expertise. And I think they always are really interested in trying to serve the composer, the piece, the ensemble. They themselves as an ensemble to the best of their abilities. It's true, I mean, you know, as a composer, it's really hard to get very, you know, sort of exceptional musicians to be playing your music all the time. And sometimes you have to write different type of music for a different type of musician because that's, you know, that's just, that's the way real life is. But here, it's one of the few opportunities I think they really get to, the young composers really get to write a piece that is tapping into their imagination as best as they can. Yeah, that's wonderful. All right, we are going to take a short break and then we'll be back to talk more about Avilock Farm and the Composers Conference that is starting next Monday. You are listening to WKXL1450AM103.9 FM Concord and 101.9 FM in Manchester. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) - Welcome back everyone. I'm Ashley Batgate, your host on Art for Living. So happy that you're joining us today. WKXL1450AM103.9 FM Concord and 101.9 FM in Manchester. So we've been talking with Jessica Tong and Kurt Rody, Kurt Rody is the artistic director of the Composers Conference. Jessica Tong is the director of the Chamber Music Workshop at the conference and also my partner in crime and co-director at Avilock Farm Music Institute. We've been discussing sort of the bones and the structure of the festival itself but I'd like to take this segment to talk a bit about the 80th anniversary. This is its 80th year of existence which is sort of incredible when you compare it to other festivals in the country or even in the world. And we are having a big celebration of that on August 4th at Avilock. There will be dinner and concert and lots of discussion and canoodling. I can't believe that's the word that just came to my head right now but there you have it, canoodling. So let's talk about the 80th anniversary and the gala. - Sure, let's go into Composer Conference Canoodling. So on August 4th, we're gonna be having a day-long event. The conference has decided that we're gonna be giving world premieres throughout the 80th anniversary and we were trying to figure out what different types of premieres we could do given that we're a summer festival but really also embrace all the different types of composers that we've had be with us over these many years. So I believe one of the first ideas that came to the floor was this idea of the community commissions which I believe is Jessica's idea which is to have this one-minute commission where we would ask previous mentor composers and composer fellows if they would be willing to write a one-minute piece and that piece could be commissioned by any performer that wanted, by any one for any performer. - Yeah, so we basically had about, I think, just under 50 compositions that were commissioned. - 53. - 53, oh wow. 53 compositions that were commissioned by a range of chamber music workshop participants, professional ensembles, soloists, young rising professionals and what we did, we kind of did a little bit of a blind dating situation where they were paired through an algorithm with a composer and they didn't know one another. It was completely random and so that composer was assigned to write them a one-minute work and they had about, everybody's had about a month and a half to learn it and record it and now we're going to premiere 53 new works. - Yeah, online and we started the premiere, the online premiere is last Sunday on July 7th and the second round will be on the 14th, 21st, will be the 3rd, 28th, the 4th, until we get through all of them. And I believe we're going to be playing a few of them at the August 4 Gala. Also on the August 4th Gala, we're going to be playing the new music, new communities, pieces, which are these pieces by the young composer and musician from the Concord, New Hampshire area. - Is Concord Community Music School? - Is it Concord Community Music School? - Yeah, it's Concord Community Music School. We have several students from there as well as one student just from out of state coming. - From out of state. - Basically, just in a nutshell, I know Kurt had spoken about that already but the idea came from, I think, the conference being such steeped in this idea of educating young musicians that we thought it would be a really wonderful opportunity to have our own composers to serve as mentors as well because not only is it important for us to learn how to be creative, but also to teach others similar skill sets. And so we pair our fellows with the young students who are interested. They don't have to have any background in music or music reading. Everything they learn is actually on site one-on-one with their composer, fellow mentor. And the goal is through a series of Zoom lessons throughout the year. They get to compose a new piece that is written specifically for one of our conference ensemble members who Kurt was just saying how incredible musicians they are. So it's kind of wildly exciting. At the age of 11, 12, or 13, that you get to have your own piece premiered by some of the world's best new music musicians. And so they get a chance to come during the conference and workshop and then we'll have a concert and I think it'll be on our third Saturday at 7 p.m. But it's really one of the highlights I think every summer because it's incredible to see the level of creativity and the level of innovation that somebody has when they're completely free to do what they want, especially at that age. And our hope is that that really motivates them to pursue this farther and have the option by the time they get to college to even seriously consider this as a career path. But there have been really some great compositions and they'll have a chance to premiere it during the regular conference season, the three weeks, but I think it will also be-- will have a repeat performance for those who are coming to our gala on the Sunday in that very special concert day. Maybe let's talk a little bit about 8 for 80. Yeah, so that's sort of the crown jewel, if you will, of the entire celebration. So we've asked previous mentor composers and composer fellows from the last three decades to compose four many pieces for the conference ensemble. And those composers are Augusta Reed-Thomas, Shulamit Ron, Chen Yi, David Sanford, Baha Royari, Hanzu. And Glenn-- Kana Savage. Kana Savage, thank you. And Melinda Wagner. Wow, that's incredible. And these represent eight decades, right? So they are alumni from various times during the festival's existence, correct? And they represent from the last three decades. Although it would be really interesting to have somebody from 80 years, but I just don't think-- I don't think we're going to be able to pull that off. A segens concert would be really great, though. But I mean, that is-- and these are composers who have won Pulitzer's and the Roomba-- you've won the Roomb Prize Kurt. And so they're from all over celebrated composers and very-- in Han, Hanzu, right? Is-- am I saying that right now? He wrote a piece, a trio, actually, for Jessica and me and David Kaplan, that we're going to premiere there. And he was at the festival last year. So it's very exciting, I guess. I'm excited to see how that all comes together in one room and one concert. It's going to be wild. And then afterwards, we're going to have this great party. August 4th. August 4th. Get your tickets now. Join us for this party. You can buy tickets at composersconference.org. That's right. And you can see all of our events are on Aviloc's web page, avilocfarmusic.org for the next several weeks and also for the rest of the season. We will continue to have Friday night concerts really through September 14th and beyond. So let's talk a little bit more about the community of this conference and the other components. Yeah. So the Chamber Music Workshop, I think in the 80-year span, it's existed for about 65 or 70 years, I think, very early on. Mario and some of the other kind of founding members that a really important component was to educate those who love music in, I guess, the language of new music, how to understand, how to listen, and also to link it with kind of the great works that we all study. And so the Chamber Music Workshop is a large component of the Composers Conference and brings together about 80 musicians who are either amateurs, who absolutely love music, or recent graduates, or people who used to actually be musicians and decided to go off on another path. But they really want an intensive week or two where they can work on chamber music with one another and have daily coachings and rehearsals and master classes and opportunities for performance. So over the three weeks, we have quite a lot of people who come all over the US and sometimes also from overseas to come live, eat, and work amongst all of the composers and the CPI Fellows. And they are basically at an intensive music camp. They're-- we'll continue in a second. We will continue this conversation with Jessica Tong and Kurt Rodey. I'm Ashley Backate, your host today on Artful Living. You are listening to WKXL 1450 AM, 103.9 FM Concord, and 101.9 FM in Manchester. We will be right back. [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] Welcome back, everyone. I'm Ashley Backate, your host today on Artful Living. You're listening to WKXL 1450 AM, 103.9 FM Concord, and 101.9 FM in Manchester. So we were discussing the 80th anniversary gala and all the various components of the Composers Conference, which is in residence at Avilock Farm Music Institute from July 14 through August 4. And we have lots of concerts that you can come check out. This is all on our website, avilockfarmmusic.org. And featuring premieres of music that the composition fellows are writing and also the 8 for 80 that we talked about a little while ago. So what Jessica was in the middle of talking about was the chamber music workshop portion of the conference and how these are people who are probably doing other things. They're doctors and lawyers and neurosurgeons, and they're doing all sorts of brilliant things. But they also play instruments and they love music. And so part of this festival is that they're coming and they're receiving coaching from professional musicians. And we're playing in the group sometimes. I think this is not only is this wonderful to do on its own, but part of what I think makes Avilock special and why I love it so much is that you, even in the regular residency program, it's this mashup of a lot of different age groups and people who are just doing different things. And the reward, actually, on the other side of all this computer admin that we're doing every day is that you get to witness how special it is to see all of these strangers kind of come together for the first time, you know, from different walks of life and different generations, and how that synergizes and how the chemistry and kind of like how that plays out in terms of a community. So do you want to talk a little bit more about that? Actually, it was funny when you were saying these people often are lawyers and doctors and everything. I think what's in some ways mind-boggling to me, and I think incredibly brave, is that there are these people who are incredibly good at what they do in their own fields from all over the world, and they come here because they love music that much, that they want to come and just share that love with other people. And they sign up for this kind of music camp, and they come, and they work, and they work, and they work. And it's a really great reminder, I think also, for the professional musician to be reminded of the fact that the reason why we got into this in the first place was that kind of driving passion and love for this art form. And so I think when we talk about synergy, even though there are people who are perhaps not musicians by trade and by choice, that they really have also a lot to give to this community, both at the Composers Conference and at Avilock as well. And so it's always really interesting to see the commonalities between everybody's lives and careers, even if we're doing different things. But the thing that joins us all is this deep love for music, old and new. And one of, I think, the very fascinating events is always the composer talks where everybody gets a chance to have a conversation that's kind of led by Kurt, but with the special guest composer in residence. And everybody has kind of carte blanche to ask them about their creative process and how individual that is and how they come up with what it is, what they feel, their idea of beauty and their idea of a piece is. And it always takes interesting turns. I find every time I sit in those conversations to see how differently each one of us thinks or conceives of music and how that can turn into a really interesting discussion. There are, as both Kurt and Ashley said, so many events that happen throughout the week. Basically, as a general rule, you can be assured that from Wednesday through Saturday, there's a public concert almost every single night. The first week, there will be two chamber music concerts that include some of our amazing conference ensemble faculty, along with Ashley, myself, and another guest artist, David Kaplan. And then in the second and third weeks, we'll have both chamber music concerts, new music concerts, new music premieres by the ensemble, by the chamber music workshop Artists in Residence, by our Contemporary Performance Institute Fellows, and by our New Music, New Community Fellows, almost every single night. And then I think it's Tuesday night that we have these composer talks with our guest composers, which are always a fascinating trip into the mind of a composer and how it works. So all of these are open to the public. So if your curiosity is peaked in any way, I'd really encourage you to come down to one or two or all of these activities, because the beauty of it is that every single concert and event will be completely unlike the other. And all of these concerts are at 7.30pm in the concert barn. If the weather is nice, we will open those doors for a long seating, which I am very excited about. And so we would love for you to attend. So is there anything else for our listeners that you want to say about the composer's conference or just anything in general? Oh, just give a word or two about just the nature of what it means to make music. Because I think that everyone, you don't have to be a professional musician. I think everyone in one way or another is not only drawn to music, but is also drawn to making music, even just whistling or singing or singing with the radio in the car type of thing. Music is such a strange, magical experience, because it's not just the sound. It's the act of making the sound, enough hearing the sound. And it's usually not-- you can be by yourself, and it can really tap into something special and emotional and profound, and it can be with others. And it can tap into something differently emotional and differently profound with all those other people. And it's almost impossible. We all know what it is, but we can't really describe what music actually-- what is that thing? Because it's not speaking, it's not reading, it's not dancing, it's something else. And it's also something that all cultures have, and they need it. And I think it's really lovely that we are able to be able to focus on this thing that we actually need and do it really intensely. And sure, yeah. Well said. So do you want to tell a little bit about your journey, since we have a little bit of time left, we didn't get to talk about Kurt. And where Kurt comes from, and your process. Because you are not only an instrumentalist, but you are a composer, you are a director, you're doing a little bit of everything, and keeping it together in such a cool way. So tell us about Kurt. Let's see if I can do a one minute. I'm from the Hudson Valley. I now live in San Francisco. I've been there for 32 years. I went to conservatories and played viola and trained as a composer. But where I am now, I often have to take a step back and think I didn't realize I would be here. And I didn't realize I'd be doing what I've been doing now. For some reason, I think I just imagined a much more simple or more typical musician life. That didn't work out. And I'm really glad it didn't work out. But I think for me as a composer and as an instrument, right now I'm taking a little bit of time off as an instrumentalist. I just did start to play again recently. So that's going to come back. I'm glad I took the time off. But I also took time off for a long time as a composer. And that was one of the periods of my life where I realized that, you know, this is the type of thing that if I want to do it, almost anyone could do it, you just have to want to do it and figure out how you can do it. And I think that's sort of the bottom line for me as a creative artist. If I really want to do it, I really just have to do it myself and figure out how to make it work. And I think a place like Avilock is that's what's perfect about it is that I think musicians, composers and instrumentalists are like, you know, we need that support and that community around us to kind of keep us going and to feel, I guess, affirmed. You know, like, oh, yeah, I'm on this path. It's really hard. There's a lot of resistance, but this is what I'm meant to be doing and want to be doing. And I think it feels good to be around other people who feel that way and can support in that way. So that's our show today. We've run out of time. Thank you so much, Jessica and Kurt for joining us. I'm Ashley Bathgate. Thank you, WKSL, for allowing me to host today. Come to Avilock. Come to these concerts. Go to our website. Support us in any way you can. We thank you. This is WKSL1450AM103.9 FM Concord and 101.9 FM in Manchester. Have a beautiful day, everyone. [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] (upbeat music) (upbeat music)