Reciprocity between wine and music
The fusion of artistic media lays the groundwork for multi-sensory experiences of constant boundary-pushing encounters. Art and technology collaborate to blur the lines of tired old designations. It doesn’t have to just be dinner or a concert or painting anymore.
Any form or medium can be molded into something genuine and novel. Tim Hinck, the composer, sommelier, and culinarian, is blurring these lines with avant-garde creativity.
While studying music in the Netherlands, Tim developed a deep love for wine. Over time, his passion for composition and performance mingled with his vino-craving taste buds. He envisioned a reciprocal opportunity between his two passions. Three years ago, he started the Chattanooga Tasting Club.
“It grew out of a small group of friends getting together to drink and learn more about wine, but it quickly grew as more people wanted to meet regularly for structured tastings with a highly educational focus,” says Hinck. Now Tim works with the city’s leading chefs in order to create wine-centric tasting dinners. At these tastings, Tim explores the boundaries between music, olfactory, and palate.
“I’ve taken a deep dive into wine education,” he explains. “Besides music, it’s my main interest and hobby.”
Over the past three years, the Chattanooga Tasting Club has expanded into a diverse and growing community of more than 150 members who rotate through different events.
Tim travels regularly for both his music and his endless wine education and is particularly interested in the newer wine-growing regions of the world.
“I like to explore both broad and general wine education and move through different regions or grapes. Each year within the tasting club, we try to hit three or four grape varietals and do a tasting for each one,” says Hinck. He works closely with Wine Theory, a local wine broker that focuses on bringing new and exciting options to Chattanooga.
Though he’s deeply intrigued by wine, Tim’s main passion in life is the composition and performance of music.
“I spend more hours in a day writing music than doing anything else,” he says. “The master goal is to grow that part of my practice. I want to brand myself as a composer, but most of my musical projects tend to be multi-sensory.
“It’s often not just musicians on stage; there are usually other sensory elements. Sound and food pairings, sound and wine pairings. I want to continue to do that. I like visual stimulation. It could be fun to have a space where sound and food and drink are mixed up together. Right now, it’s about establishing myself as a composer and getting my pieces played a lot more.”
Recently he began a partnership with a colleague at the Juilliard School of Music through a project called the Collaborate Arts Ensemble. Together, they will work with a team to develop a theatrical show that explores the concept of an interdisciplinary theatrical piece. In 2020, the ensemble will take this new show on tour across the country.
“The Collaborative Arts Ensemble focuses on community activism and social engagement and explores options that aren’t necessarily available for musicians. It’s a way to provide experiences that are outside of the normal boundaries for these artists.”
Tim Hinck has several performances premiering in the coming year, including a new opera for Opera Tennessee, an experimental film, and a ground-breaking piece written alongside prisoners in Walker County, GA as part of the Arts Capacity organization for which Tim Hinck has just been named composer-in-residence. Visit his pages @timhinck and @chatastingclub on Facebook and Instagram, and see upcoming wine events like a Champagne and Dumplings Supper Club on May 18.
As Chattanooga advances towards its place on the world stage as a first-class destination city, Mr. Hinck’s role as an educator, community organizer, entertainer, and musical savant will be at the forefront of our artistic growth.