First, there are simply more musicians playing period instruments at a higher level than in the U.S., and the historical performance scene is flourishing in Holland. Besides various annual festivals and university programs, it is home to an astonishing number of historical performance luminaries, Jaap ter Linden, Wieland Kuijken, and Max von Egmond among them. Love also had a hand in it. Ludwig's long-time girlfriend, Cara Perkins '98, is a modern dancer, and will travel with him. Finding a place where we could both study our respective art forms was a factor in what country I applied to.
Historical performance seeks to understand the artistic and cultural context of a piece of music.
I imagine that being in the land of the composers of the music that I love will be a very rich experience. Studying with great teachers among talented students can't hurt, either. He plays a copy of a viola da gamba that Eva Heinitz had commissioned in the 1930s from her primary instrument, which had been crafted by the renowned 17th Century German maker Joachim Tielke. Ludwig began his study of the instrument while a high school student in Amherst, Massachusetts. At Oberlin, he performed with the Oberlin Baroque Ensemble, and collaborated with Anna Rubin, professor of composition, on Seachanges , her work for tape and viola da gamba.