Lutherie Once Again Takes Center Stage

Ralston Bowles charms the Black Boz audience

Photos By Lil De Laat

For the 13th year the midwinter musical montage that is the Luthier’s Concert warmed up a capacity crowd at the Black Box of the Dogwood Center.
From the country sounds of Sue Anderson playing a guitar crafted by the late Robert Sayers and the ukulele version of ‘8 Days a Week’ strummed by Don Benson and his granddaughters Cyanne and Cora Schuitema to the sardonic stories put to music by the Ralston Bowles and the enchanting emanations from Jim Spalink the musical journey brought a sea of smiles and appreciative applause from the Dogwood crowd.
The concert, a collaboration between the NCCA Artsplace and the Dogwood has long been a must see as the performers once again shared the stage with the magnificent instruments created by the talented group of artisans known as luthiers.
Bowles slapped out his tunes on a Bryan Galloup piece of work while Catlin Hill took one of Elon Howe’s violins through its paces. Resonate guitars  were given some welcome moments on stage in the capable hands of Keith Caldwell and first time concert performer Tim Scheerhorn who has been creating the dobro inspired pieces for three decades while Benson spoke of introducing his progeny who joined him onstage to lutherie and Spalink introduced a harp and a lute to the musical mix.
With Faune Benson Schuitema’s captivating photographs of the instruments serving as a backdrop in the gallery, concert-goers mingled with the luthiers before the show making inquiries  and admiring the impressive works on display.
Kudos to Ms. Benson Schuitema of the Dogwood Center for once again filling a February  evening with a pleasant variety of tunesmanship.