Erik Newquist and Garry Jones working on one of their musical benches.

Just added to the pre-show! Musical bench soloist Jane Boxall premiers the Concertino for Park Bench and Strings with members of the string section of The Event In A Tent Orchestra.

Musical benches are the product of The Harmonic Forge, a a coming together of the talents of blacksmith/artist Erik Newquist and musical sculptor/instrument maker/musician Garry Jones. (Jones is also the composer of the Concertino.) Their first collaborative piece “Steel, Wood, Melody” combines the metal working art of Newquist with the musical sculpturing of Jones in creating a work of whimsical beauty that is simultaneously a serious musical instrument and functional garden bench seat. This video gives you a good idea how much fun they can be: