Matthew Cochran's touring schedule from the last few months has included performances from Iceland to Ireland. Next month, he'll be in Oklahoma and Florida before returning to Scotland.
He's back in northern Michigan briefly, and he'll perform Friday, March 27 at 7 p.m. at the Music House Museum in Williamsburg while he's here.
Cochran visited Classical IPR to talk about Friday's recital and what he's been up to during what he calls a "geographically challenged" tour.
Those geographic challenges, he says, are multiple.
He and his duo partner Matthew McAllister live thousands of miles apart, with Cochran based here in northern Michigan and McAllister living in Scotland and commuting to northern Ireland.
Their tour has taken them to several places in Europe, including Ireland, Scotland, Germany and Iceland, "but not necessarily in that order," Cochran said, laughing. "The way we needed to string concerts together for the tour required quite a bit of back and forth travel."
The geographic challenges extend to his time in back in the United States, including an extended stay at Chicago's O'Hare airport during last week's massive winter storm. Cochran is cautiously optimistic that current long lines from TSA airport delays will be resolved by the time he needs to fly again next week.
Despite the challenges, his recent travels have taken him to fascinating places, like Harpa in Reykjavik, Iceland and to a remote village in Scotland where he took possession of a new guitar made by luthier Michael Ritchie.
Guitars are typically named for their maker, so Cochran's new guitar is named the Ritchie. It replaces the Conner, which he says he'd been playing on for about two decades.
He was so impressed by the new guitar that Michael Ritchie had made for his duo partner Matthew McAllister that he tried to get Ritchie to make him an identical one.
Ritchie refused to make an exact copy, but Cochran's new guitar is similar enough to McAllister's that they call the two "sisters."
The Ritchie will make its American debut Friday night at the Music House Museum.
Cochran's recital will include familiar repertoire for classical guitar by composers including Manuel De Falla as well as Cochran's own original compositions and transcriptions.
Hear Cochran's entire conversation with Classical IPR by clicking or tapping "listen" in this post.
Music heard in this interview (all performed by Matthew Cochran, guitar)
Matthew Cochran, Two Young Fish
Olafar Arnalds, Two short pieces (arr. Matthew Cochran)
Matthew Cochran, Toccata for Joe (listen to the Joe Pass recording that inspired this piece)
Matthew Cochran, Three Non-algorithmic Human Interactions: III. The Promise of Something New
Joaquin Rodrigo, Concierto de Aranjuez: II. Adagio (with Kevin Rhodes and the Traverse City Philharmonic)
