Interview with andPlay

How did you guys meet? When did you know you wanted to work together? (when Harry met Sally) 

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andPlay met many moons ago when we were both undergrads at the Oberlin Conservatory. We were friends through Maya’s freshman roommate, and reconnected at the roommate’s wedding before Maya moved to NYC. Once she moved we ended up playing in a new music ensemble together. The ensemble asked if small groups of players would be interested in going to Fire Island to play chamber music concerts. Maya loves the beach and did not want to pass up the opportunity, so she called Hannah and we decided to play violin/viola duos. We scoured the NYU music library and asked around to find some good music, and ended up putting together a very challenging and fun program of music by Stefano Gervasoni, August Reed Thomas, Brendan Faegre, and Christian Wolff that went over quite well with the beach-loving audiences! After that we decided that we wanted to play more together, so we booked a show and starting racking our brains for an ensemble name. andPlay was born, and the rest is history…

 

Can you tell us about the inspiration behind the name (a place is a place)? 

 

(a place is a place) was a working title that Matt Evans had for his double duo that andPlay + Aperture Duo commissioned. We loved the title and its connotations; what grounds a place or a person in a place is not necessarily its geographical location but more the people and the things in that place. We are duos living and working on the two coasts of the US which makes us geographically far apart, but we are brought together by our connections, love for new music, and ultimately, this project.

 

If you could only listen to one album for the rest of your life, what would it be? 

 

Every andPlay tour or road trip we add songs to a Spotify playlist called ‘andPlay hits’. This list is getting longer and longer with every year and it is full of songs that we find fun and love to sing at the top of our lungs. We could probably survive on this list for many years.

 

What’s the best way to pass as a local in NY? 

 

Keep walking. Never buy from NY Ice Cream trucks ONLY Mr. Softee.

 

What’s your spirit animal/guide?

 

Cher.