For the past several years I have been participating in the Northeastern woodworkers Association Showcase. This showcase, held every year at the Saratoga Springs Convention Center in Saratoga Springs, NY is one of the biggest woodworking showcases of its kind in the region, bringing in extraordinary woodworking talent and displays from all over, from amateur to professional, to display their work and participate in the event. One of the main features of the event is the showcase, where woodworkers can display their works in a number of categories, for both general display and judging. Being an instrument maker myself, I have always tried to enter a piece in either the strings or non-string musical instrument categories. Two years ago, my Masamune Shamisen build won 1st place in the stringed instrument category, which was a major and significant victory for my efforts. Now, after five years of entering, I have finally won a first place prize in the non-string category with one of my inline ocarinas at this year’s event!
I knew that I wanted to display as many of my current instruments, which included over twenty ocarinas, xun, and a gemshorn. The hardest part is always selecting the judged piece, which can only be one per category. I knew I wanted to make an impression, and the selection was down to two larger custom bass ocarinas and two custom tenors. Going back and forth on them, I finally asked my wife what she thought as someone outside of woodworking that made the most impression on her. She immediately went for the beautiful SN 046 model made from curly old growth redwood and spalted ambrosia maple. For her, this instrument told a story. And her judgement was spot on!
Throughout the event, I had a fantastic time talking with other woodworkers as well as attendees, sharing a passion for fine woodworking, beautiful woods, and music. I look forward to continuing to participate in future showcases and sharing the rare and unique world of wooden vessel flutes with others!