In the fall of 1999 the Krishnaswami-Salman Duo (Rajan Krishnaswami, cello, and Mark Salman, piano) toured the East coast with concerts in Boston, Pittsburgh, and New York City. They wound up the tour with a superb concert in their hometown of Seattle to a very appreciative audience in the Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall at Benaroya Hall.
Concertizing together since 1991 they have earned an enthusiastic audience and have explored together a wide range of musical material. They have specialized in commissioning new works by American composers. They savor energy, melody, wide ranges of mood, tonal, musical expressiveness with evocative phrases and they have been nurturing an audience that now appreciates their vision of contemporary musical composition.
Their first CD is a wonderful collection of pieces that embody all of these characteristics. Several pieces were commissioned by Rajan Krishnaswami and were written inspired by his musical personality. Others are written by composers that he knows and admires. The music was recorded in a long weekend recording session in the chapel of Bastyr University (Saint Thomas Seminary, Bothel, WA). The site was chosen because of the excellent acoustics in the chapel. The great care that was put into the recording is immediately felt when listening to the CD. The performance is very intimate and heartfelt.