Glass Musical Instruments Demonstrated in Colonial Williamsburg Crystal Carols Concert
Dolores and I attended the Chrystal Carols Concert at the historic Kimball Theatre on Duke of Gloucester Street in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia. During the holidays, there are musical performances, historic presentations and wide range of other activities every day of the week. Visitors find that their daily schedules are quickly filled.
At the beginning of the Crystal Concert by very talented Dean Shostak, a videotape of and actor portraying Ben Franklin explains the unusual glass armonica that is one of the featured instruments in the musical demonstration of glass instruments.
Dean Shostak provides the history of several instruments and demonstrates each one with a performance. The unique glass instruments include the glass armonica, a glass violin, glass handbells and the Cristal Baschet.
The glass armonica requires a smooth surface to produce bell-like sounds. Shostak uses distilled water to keep his hands moist while playing the instruments and wears gloves at home to protect his hands when doing work around his residence.
He plays one of two of the glass violins in the world. The violins were made for him in Tokyo by the Hario Glass Company. The largest instrument is the rare Cristal Baschet, which was made for him in Paris. This instrument has been described by some as the “glass piano”. You will need to visit Colonial Williamsburg to enjoy this combination of glass musical instruments.
Enjoy the holidays and be sure to have your camera in hand to capture those special moments. Please share photographs from your favorite places in the comments for this post.
Best wishes to all for a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Glass Armonica in Colonial Williamsburg IMG_1465
Glass Armonica Played by Dean Shostak IMG_1444
Glass Violin Played by Dean Shostak IMG_1450
Glass Handbells in Colonial Williamsburg IMG_1448
Cristal Baschet in Colonial Williamsburg IMG_1454
Christmas Tree at the DeWitt Wallace Museum in Colonial Williamsburg IMG_1470
Photographs by Roy Kelley. Canon PowerShot G11 camera.
Roy and Dolores Kelley Photographs
Comments(12)