Wednesday (6/13) on the WBEZ 91.5 Chicago website, Judith Kogan writes, “Meet pianist Steven Osborne and cellist Alban Gerhardt. They’re both world-class soloists who will be featured at Chicago’s Grant Park Music Festival, which starts Wednesday in Millennium Park. And they both consider earplugs as essential to their music-making as the instruments they play. About 15 years ago, Osborne started to hear a quiet high-pitched noise in his left ear. … A doctor determined that Osborne had developed tinnitus from practicing too loudly in a small room. There’s no way to cure tinnitus, but earplugs can keep it from getting worse. Osborne was custom-fitted with a special ‘musician’ pair of earplugs, which filter out a calibrated amount of noise while allowing other sounds to enter. Osborne discovered that it was helpful to practice with the devices, and shared this with his friend and collaborator Alban Gerhardt, who doesn’t have tinnitus. … After trying them out to practice, Gerhardt decided to experiment with earplugs during concerts and recitals as well. Wearing them, he said he feels less overwhelmed by the strength and sonority of a piano or an orchestra. The devices help him balance his sound levels against the sounds being produced by others on stage.”
Posted June 13, 2012
