A few months after Jules and I moved from Oregon to Burlington, Vermont, we were talking about how unfamiliar everything was and how out of place we often felt. So I decided to place a personals ad on a local internet bulletin board called Front Porch, inviting other recent transplants from the West Coast to meet with us and discuss our respective experiences.
A woman named Katherine Quittner was one of three people who responded to the ad. She wrote that she had moved from Venice, California, to Burlington two years earlier and was interested in meeting. We set up a time and a place to meet, and exchanged photos of ourselves (and our dogs) so we would recognize each other when we got together. We would meet for lunch at Stone Soup on College St., and we'd have about an hour to get acquainted before Ms. Quittner would have to "go to work" nearby.
Ms. Quittner was about five-foot-four, had curly white hair, and appeared to be in her mid-60s. And she was a dynamo of creative energy. During our brief visit we learned that, like us, she was a climate refugee, having moved to Vermont to escape the West Coast's ever-increasing heat and wildfires. We also learned that she was a musician of some renown, and that she had recently retired from a 20-year career as a film music editor (the person who selects all the musical pieces for a movie). Among her many Hollywood music editing credits: City of Angels, Father of the Bride, Hocus Pocus, A River Runs Through It, and Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.
Lunch over, we were getting up to bus our dishes and say our goodbyes when Ms. Quittner asked whether we'd be interested in seeing a musical instrument she had invented. She said it was called the Magnetica, and it was situated in her studio, just upstairs from where we'd had lunch.
Umm...yes? Was there some other possible answer?
So, upstairs we went for a private viewing of Ms. Quittner's invention.
First impressions: Wow. It's...beautiful. And mystical. And fabulous. My jaw was on the floor.
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| Ms. Quittner demonstrating The Magnetica (photo lifted from her website). |
"Yes, I invented it," Ms. Quittner replied, perhaps more patiently than I deserved, "and built it. It makes music. And the 12 chairs are for the audience."
Duh. No more stupid questions, I vowed to myself.
"When can we hear a demonstration?" (That wasn't so stupid, right?)
"I'm thinking about having a concert in a few weeks or so, but I'm not very good at marketing so I'm not sure how to get the word out."
Now all I wanted to do was figure out a way to help her get the word out. But it had been a few years since I had done any professional-level marketing, so instead of offering to help I said, "Would you be willing to let us know when you have a date set? Maybe by emailing us?"
"Sure," she replied.
Cool. We were going to be among the first to see and hear Ms. Quittner's beautiful, mystical, fabulous invention in action.
I. Couldn't. Wait.
So, just to make sure the deal was sealed, I followed up the next day with an email to Ms. Quittner:
Hi Katherine,
It was such a pleasure meeting you yesterday, breaking bread, getting acquainted, and being invited up to your studio to see your intriguing invention. We look forward to getting together with you again sometime, and maybe being a part of the lucky audience of 12 who get to see you in concert. We're in the middle of preparing our condo to list this July and, as we talked about, find a property in Middlebury. If we don’t connect before all of that happens, we will get ahold of you once we’ve landed in our new place.
Until then,
Rick & Jules
Ms. Quittner replied almost immediately:
Hey Jules and Rick,
It was fun to meet you too. Good luck finding your hearts' desires in Middlebury. I'm sure with an open mind and a fat wallet you can succeed.
I, for one, am grateful that my lucky real estate investments of decades ago, put me into such a good position to continue this luck. Also, I think that practically, the people that can think clearly about the future will be the ones that have an easier time surviving. Watta Drama.
I hope my healing musical invention works. It would bum me out a lot if it didn’t, but then I can do it with the tuning forks so why not with the special sounds I make? ok I am rambling.
Good luck and see you round.
Katherine
Great. We were in.
Or so I thought. Unfortunately, despite my best efforts to stay in touch with Ms. Quittner after we moved to Middlebury (35 miles south of Burlington), she vanished into thin air. She had mentioned when we met that she was planning a trip back to Venice in a few weeks, so maybe she went and...never came back? Or maybe her mother in Florida passed away and she got distracted with memorial arrangements. Or maybe she gave a concert, forgot to invite us, and her Magnetica failed to deliver...which bummed her out so much she built a teletransporter and beamed herself back to her home planet?
OK, I veered off into absurdity with that last conjecture, although there was something otherworldly about Ms. Quittner. But whatever. We probably never will get to see the Magnetica in action, but I try to console myself with the fact that we were among the very few people (on this planet, anyway) who got see it in person.
Katherine Quittner, wherever you are, may your fabulous spirit live on through your music.
Addenda
Ms. Quittner's website describes the Magnetica as follows:
The Magnetica is a music-generating machine with a capacity for sound healing. It incorporates ancient instrumental forms enhanced with modern electronic capabilities. It is an electro-acoustic instrument that uses a mix of triggers and controllers to generate unusual electronic and acoustic sounds. It is the past, the present and the future in one place.
It is an instrument designed for improvisation, and for interacting with its audience. The Magnetica offers new ways to make music. Performers move on its platform in order to produce sounds.
The 12 strings are held by 10 foot long, bow shaped arcs, and its natural wood base forms a large resonant chamber. The acoustics are enhanced with antique Tibetan prayer bowls.
You can see photos of Ms. Quittner and the Magnetica in concert here, and hear a sample recording here.
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