Daniel and Marla Nistico. Photo by Aimee Boucher
As holiday lights shine during North Carolina Arboretum’s Annual Winter Lights Exhibit this month, sounds of the season from Duo Vela—a classical flute and guitar ensemble—will fill the winter air. Visitors to the exhibit on December 13, 25 and 27 will hear performances of Christmas songs, Gershwin tunes and music from their new CD from 6:30–10 p.m.
Marla Nistico (flute) met her husband, Daniel (guitar), at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York (NY) where he was working on his doctorate and she was finishing her master’s degree. A chance encounter on campus benches brought them together. “We started talking there and haven’t stopped since,” she says. “The flute and guitar are a great combination and, fortunately, some wonderful music has been composed for the pair.”
The couple made the decision to move to Asheville while still in New York. “Our first time driving through Asheville immediately confirmed our decision,” Nistico says, “and driving through downtown and seeing musicians playing on the street, countless galleries, live music venues and great looking restaurants made us want to move here—presto. All of these factors seemed to give Asheville great potential for us to further develop our ensemble’s artistic goals and projects.”
Among those projects was a recent tour performing 25 concerts in Australia, New Zealand and China. “For Daniel (native Australian) this tour was a wonderful homecoming as he hadn’t been home for some time prior,” Nistico says. While there, they managed to record their debut EP, Soiree d’hiver (Winter Evening).
China was a new experience for both musicians. “When we arrived at the first town we were scheduled to perform in, our jaws literally dropped when we saw the concert hall,” Nistico says. “It was like a gigantic modern-looking stadium.”
The other venues were similar, she adds, and for at least two shows audiences numbered about one thousand people. “We really had to project our musical ideas like we had never imagined and we could feel when the audience was really involved and on the journey with us. This is one of the most beautiful things about music, the power to communicate on a deep level regardless of race, language or culture.”
The North Carolina Arboretum is located in Asheville off the Blue Ridge Parkway at Milepost 393. For more information about the Annual Winter Lights Exhibit, visit ncarboretum.org. To learn more about Duo Vela, visit duovela.net.
