Two members of the studio, Suvan Agarwal and Nik Divall drove south to the Madison Middle School yesterday, to give a performance and demonstration for about sixty sixth graders. The attendees were students of the guitar there, where, in classes taught by JoNell Aron (yes, my wife), they’d learned to love the instrument.

Suvan led off, with friendly descriptions of his instrument and the music he’d chosen (two movements of a Bach violin sonata and a movement of a Ponce sonata). Then, the students watched, rapt, as he dazzled them with his remarkable facility and beautiful sound. Then he cheerfully answered questions.

After Suvan finished his set, Nik stepped up and opened his gigantic mystery case to reveal an instrument no one in the room had ever seen before: the theorbo. There was ample ooohing and aaahing as they leaned hard forward for a better look while Nik held it close to them for inspection. He spoke to them gently, describing the instrument and demonstrating its many (14) strings.

He played two pieces by de Visée, then switched to his guitar, and offered an upbeat piece by Garoto. Nik sounded well in control, and fully in the groove.

Nik also took questions from the kids, many of whom wanted to know about Australia, Nik’s home. Had he ever seen a kangaroo? (Yes!) But in all, they were pretty jazzed by the presentation and no doubt wondered if they could ever play like that!

Many thanks to both for offering up their talents for the education and entertainment of the younger set. They both handled the day like real pros.