The Inside Story: Laudon Schuett and DEDICATIONS: NEW WORKS FOR THE LUTE

DEDICATIONS: NEW WORKS FOR THE LUTE from early music specialist and lutenist Laudon Schuett celebrates the history of the lute while contributing fresh music to the instrument’s centuries-old repertoire. Schuett’s performances include contrapuntal fantasies, dances, and grounds, giving listeners the chance to more fully understand the instrument’s history and sheer versatility.

Today, Laudon is our featured artist in “The Inside Story,” a blog series exploring the inner workings and personalities of our composers and performers. Read on to learn about his love for role playing games, and why he particularly enjoys working with singers…

When did you realize that you wanted to be an artist?

My mother is a writer and painter, and my father was a songwriter in his late teens and early twenties before becoming a scientist, so I was surrounded by art my whole childhood. I drew as a child and started guitar lessons when I was 10, but the idea that I could be a professional artist didn’t really come into the picture until I was in high school. I was very lucky to have an incredible guitar program at the local community college that I attended during high school and got to spend time with older students that were learning like me. I distinctly remember one student coming back from summer break having spent the vacation practicing, and he had improved tremendously. It was the first time I realized that it was possible to get good. Up until that point, all the great players I had heard were people from far away places. I suddenly realized that a “regular” person like me could do incredible things if I worked hard enough. For some reason that did it for me. Luckily my parents were both very supportive, which is not often the case for people going into the arts.

What was your most unusual performance, or the most embarrassing thing that happened to you during a performance?

I think the most unusual performance I ever gave was actually one of my first professional performances. My duo, BEDLAM, was doing its first tour, five concerts in Chicago. The second performance was at a massive downtown cathedral, but it hadn’t been advertised well. When we first arrived, I was terrified that no one would be able to hear my lute in such a large building. When the 3(!) audience members arrived, they decided to sit 10 or 12 rows away from where we were set up. But, when I pulled the lute out of its case and played the first note to warm up a little, the sound exploded in the space. It was absolutely amazing! It felt like the lute had this incredible amplifier. It was the first time I realized how important space is to the sound of a lute. We ended up playing a very high energy concert for three people and having a blast, but it was very strange. I’ve always wanted to have a chance to play there again, since I don’t think my lute has ever sounded better. Would love a bigger audience the second time, though!

What does this album mean to you personally?

For me, this album marks the culmination of work I started while in grad school. During my studies, I realized that all of the musicians I admired from the past were composers, as well as performers. I came to feel that I would need to start composing if I was ever going to feel successful as a musician. While I wanted to create new music, I also wanted it to be in Renaissance genres. I started performing my works in concert as anonymous compositions from the 16th century. I am happy to say I never got caught! So, in a lot of ways, this album represents a great risk for me. When audiences thought the works were from the 16th century, they really enjoyed them, but if they found out I wrote them, the reactions were less positive or even aggressive. This is unfortunately common in the classical music realm, but I think it is slowly changing. I’m very glad that the timing worked out with the publication of my first book by MelBay earlier this year, too. The book contains my thoughts on playing lute with the scores for my solo works, in both lute tablature and guitar transcriptions.

If you could instantly have expertise performing one instrument, what instrument would that be?

Without question, it would be singing! In fact, I often joke that I would give up all my playing ability to have a nice singing voice. Sadly, I have the voice of a goat and despite the fact that I sing every note that I play, it will never be something fit for public consumption. Jokes aside, I do personally believe that the human voice is the most powerful and evocative instrument. I suppose it is why I have made lute songs such a big part of my professional life. Working with singers — in particular, my duo partner Kayleen Sánchez — has been absolutely wonderful. I am a sucker for a beautiful song and I believe that is true for audiences as well. Working with a singer has the added benefit of giving me a “partner in crime.” Playing solo concerts is enjoyable but can be a bit lonely. It’s always fun to have someone to share the crazy experience of doing concerts with.

What was your favorite musical moment on the album?

Recording music is always challenging and it can be difficult to find things you like, because you are in a very critical state of mind when making it. This is even worse when you are recording your own music. It’s difficult to fight imposter syndrome when reviewing every little detail of your playing and your compositions. That said, I was very glad to get “Dieter’s Fantasy” on the album. It is a chromatic fantasy and very technically challenging to play, despite the fact that it is not even 3 minutes long. Because of COVID and all the concert cancellations, I didn’t know if I would be in good enough shape to play it. I nearly replaced it with another piece. Luckily, I was able to do it in what I hope is a satisfying way and I placed it in the middle of the album because it is the most musically and technically complex piece. I think it is my favorite part of the album, and it nearly didn’t happen!

What is your guilty pleasure?

I love role playing games, particularly ones set in fantasy worlds. It can be a board game or a video game; I enjoy them both. My favorites tend to be set in the Forgotten Realms, a Dungeons and Dragons setting. I have played games like Baldur’s Gate and Icewind Dale continuously since I was 12 or 13 years old. I love playing spell-casting characters and have a longstanding internal conflict about wizard vs. warlock. Ironically, I have never had any interest in playing as a bard! I think this surprises people sometimes, but the last thing I want to be in a fantasy setting is a musician. When I was in music school, my love for role playing games was something I kept fairly quiet. It seemed like all the other musicians had cooler hobbies: wine, cigars, cars… Luckily, I have since discovered that there are a lot of professional musicians out there with similar interests and I have had a blast playing with them when the opportunity has presented itself.

The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the artist and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views and opinions held by PARMA Recordings LLC and its label imprints, subsidiaries, and affiliates.