Orange County NC Website
DocuSign Envelope ID:A4D80A45-3D76-490C-9BAF-5A28959D5D50 <br /> He was on the other side of the room,focused on his laptop and phone and other devices, <br /> and he welcomed me with no expression. I greeted him and began to play a new song of <br /> mine called Mes Amis du Kalaban Koura. It has a nice,uplifting, churning spirit to it,and <br /> I focused on sharing that spirit with him. Often when I,play kora,I don't look directly <br /> into people; that's the job of my notes.But this time I looked at him and smiled,and <br /> noticed he was really interested in what I was doing.After I was done,he asked me lots <br /> of questions about the kora and where it comes from and what the heck I was doing <br /> playing it so well.I played another song,a traditional piece from Mali called Kulanjan <br /> (not originally a kora piece but adapted to kora) and handed him a complimentary CD <br /> and wished him well. <br /> A few minutes later his nurse walked up to me in the hallway. She had tears in her eyes. <br /> She looked at me and said,"you don't know what you just did." <br /> I think she said a few other things,but I never got past the first part.And I don't think I <br /> ever will. Because it's moments like this that urge me to feel like my chosen (by me or <br /> the universe?) profession is the right thing to be doing.That the calling I feel to be a <br /> musician is exactly that,a calling.And the universe wins when people answer their <br /> calling,right? My bank account begs to differ,but my heart thumps harder and I am more <br /> happy every second that I spend sending a note from me to you. <br /> So if it's part of my job to bring a strange instrument from a distant place into totally new <br /> territory,I'm game. <br /> Will Ridenour, Musician <br /> I - <br /> ;r <br /> Instrument: Kora <br />