PAUL CIENNIWA, 37
 Harpsichordist
 Paul Cienniwa and his cellist wife, Audrey, didn’t want to wait around for gigs. Their solution: form Newport Baroque with Cienniwa as artistic director. Since its first concert in 2003, the group has presented music from the 17th and 18th centuries with the Cienniwas at the core of nearly every performance. A native of Niles, Ill., Cienniwa began his quest for music playing the piano at age 6, then studying harpsichord at DePaul University and earning a doctor of musical arts from Yale University.
  When he’s not leading Newport Baroque, the Fall River, Mass., resident directs Sine Nomine choral ensemble and is the musical director at First Church Boston, where his Sunday morning performances are broadcast weekly on WERS (88.9 FM) Boston. The Cienniwas’ debut CD, Bach’s “Sonatas for Viola Da Gamba,” recorded in First Church Boston, was released by Whaling City Sound in July. On Oct. 3, Newport Baroque launches its eighth season with a solo performance by recorder virtuoso Heloise Degrugillier and accompaniment by the Cienniwas. Visit www.newportbaroque.org. BY JENNIFER NICOLE SULLIVAN
 Why the harpsichord?
  I took a course on harpsichord and I was hooked ever since. Piano was going really, really well. I would say, “Oh no, I don’t want to do harpsichord, I want to stick with piano.” I found myself driving in my car and harpsichord music would come on the radio — because it does. I would switch to the other classical station. This went on for about a month. I finally realized I was in denial. It was Memorial Day weekend 1992, I made the decision to take the plunge and give up the piano. If I were a pianist now, I’d be miserable.
 Is the appeal, too, that there really aren’t that many harpsichordists compared to pianists?
  Part of that denial was, “Am I just trying to be a big fish in a small pond?” But trust me, there are enough harpsichordists out there.
 How big are your harpsichords?
  I have two harpsichords. My big old one was built in 1966, so it’s technically an antique. It’s a little over 7 feet long and it’s a two manual instrument, which means there are two keyboards. It’s very heavy because in 1966, harpsichord builders used very heavy woods. This spring, I finally picked up an instrument that I commissioned three years ago; it’s a single manual. I had it built so it could fit in a vehicle. That’s maybe 5 feet long and it’s much, much lighter.
 Do your harpsichords have names?
  The 1966 instrument, the builder had the soundboard painted with Day-Glo colors and it got this nickname, “Futra.” The instrument had some problems. Part of the process included replaning the soundboard, so the Day-Glo colors were removed. After that little surgery, we renamed it “Neutra.” It’s neutered I guess.
  My new instrument got the name of “Postie” because the damn thing was due 2 ½ ago.
  The builder is so slow. He came up with one story after another. I said, “ Well, if it had been done early, it’d be a Preemie, but now it’s a Postie.”
 You’re headed out to do some performances in France. How do you tote the instruments?
  We could put the cello in a flight case and put it in baggage and never have trouble.
  But not too long after 9/11, TSA opens all the baggage. The problem is, they don’t close the cello case properly. Now what we have to do is buy a seat for the cello. And they don’t give you frequent flyer miles or cocktails for the extra seat. I’m like, “I want the cello’s vodka!”
  The concerts we do next week, we’ll be borrowing a cello. The other problem is finding a harpsichord because the harpsichord doesn’t fly.
 Do you ever experiment with modern music for harpsichord?
  In the ’60s, the harpsichord sort of tied into the alternative and hippie movement. “Strawberry Fields Forever” has harpsichord and a bunch of rock songs from the ’60s have harpsichord — the Partridge Family theme, the Winnie the Pooh soundtrack. To be quite honest, it’s a pretty psychedelic instrument. I think part of that is the repetitive nature of it, trancelike. I haven’t played a lot of contemporary music in the past six years or so.
 How do you give the best performance possible?
  I had a teacher once who said, “Pretend you’re a doppelganger,” that there are two of you. Imagine your other self sitting and listening to you, which is a really cool technique. Made me a little crazy for a while. The challenge is to also be on stage and to be relaxed enough and confident to make the music spontaneous.
 How do you make it spontaneous?
 One of the reasons I got into the harpsichord is the accompanying repertoire, which is a very spontaneous thing. It’s very much like jazz. When I play with ensembles, I’m not playing notes on a page — what I have is a written out bass line and then a series of numbers.
  Like a jazz pianist will have a tune and chord symbols, the accompanist and harpsichordist are actually improvising our interpretations of those chord symbols, which is one of the greatest pleasures in my life.
 What’s the biggest misconception about Baroque music?
  Or any classical music, let’s say. The perception that it’s not cool. It’s a great sadness to me that younger people haven’t picked up on classical music.
  Maybe it’s that people don’t want to look any deeper than what society’s throwing at them. But I always thought it was tremendously hip to be counterculture. When I was 16, when I started driving, I started getting into classical music.
  I used to pop Wagner in my car. I would just crank it up. That was the ultimate counterculture. Unfortunately classical music in this society has had the reputation of being high society, rich people, dead white guy music. But in fact today, that’s not the case at all.
 What’s it like performing with your wife?
  When I have to work with a cellist that’s not Audrey, I come home and say, “Oh God, it’s terrible. They don’t know what they’re doing!” With Audrey, it’s so easy. We’re psychic. At this point when we play together, we don’t look at each other, we don’t have to talk. Usually when you play you have to look at each other and breathe a cue. But we just go. It’s the coolest thing.
 What’s your most memorable time on stage?
  In 2007, Newport Baroque gave a concert at Emmanuel Church in Newport. We were playing a piece by Francesco Geminiani, “La Folia.” I never get emotional when I’m playing, but that, in many ways, was the pinnacle. At that moment, I’m looking at the orchestra — it’s such a great piece too, it has a lot of meaning for me — in many ways I could have folded up everything right there and said, “I’ve done what I wanted to do.” It was an almost teary moment.
  It’s like — this is it.
 Almost teary?
 Almost teary.