The Sapphire Trio in Europe ... It's all about relationships.(Forum focus: collaborative performance)

The view from the train window was a breathtaking landscape of snowtopped Alps and lush green farmland. White houses with red tiled roofs dotted the hillsides, and the window boxes were filled with brightly colored flowers. These spectacular surroundings were the backdrop to the Sapphire Trio's travels in Austria and Germany, as we went from one town to the next, playing concerts and meeting new friends.

The Sapphire Trio, with Maxine Ramey, clarinet; Margaret Baldridge, violin; and Jody Graves, piano, was formed to explore the newly created literature for clarinet, violin and piano, and bring to the concert venue the master works that exist in the repertoire for this combination.

One highlight of our tour in May 2003 was in Neckargemund, Germany. It's a town very close to Heidelburg on the Neckar River. We stayed at the Hotel Reber, a beautiful four-story guest house with a view of the river and a history of the Reber family displayed in framed pictures throughout the house. We shared wonderful meals prepared by the owner's son and exchanged stories with the family in a kind of German-English conversation over a local fare of schweinschnitzel, croquettes and spatzle.

The morning of our concert we went to the Prince Carl Hall for our rehearsal. It's a beautiful concert hall, with windows spanning the entire length of one side overlooking the river. We met with local music instructors, who were so welcoming and excited about our performance that evening. The piano teacher and I talked for a long time, sharing ideas about music and teaching, discovering we experience the same joys and struggles in our respective musical journeys.

The deputy mayor gave an introduction at the beginning of the concert and talked about how wonderful it was to have us perform on their "Sister City" series. (Missoula, Montana and Neckargemund). He said many events had been canceled recently because of the war in Iraq, which, in a way, made us all feel even more connected to each other. It was a poignant reminder of how music brings people together and gives us a sense of peace and hope, as we all desire to share something positive and uplifting in times of conflict.

The concert that evening was one of our best ever. It was the kind of performance that transports you from "playing the score" to "being played by the music." We felt completely bonded to each other on stage and embraced by the hospitality from the city officials and the audience. You could feel it in the room. At the end, the applause seemed to go on forever and continued in rhythm until we played an encore. Afterwards, we were presented with gifts from the city and spent another hour talking with various audience members who stayed to ask questions. Several people commented that the twentieth-century music we performed was all new to them, and they appreciated and enjoyed the unfamiliar music. One person told me it was wonderful ...