This vision of Phillip Aaberg as a little boy riding the train from his hometown of Chester to Spokane, Wash., for music lessons popped into my head Monday at the Babcock Theater when the pianist/composer played to a packed house .

He told the anecdote just before he played the piece he wrote about that experience, "West Bound.'' It's a whirling composition that lurches and chugs just like a train, especially when it was accompanied by violinist Darol Anger, or Turtle Island String Quartet fame.

What was cool about the free community concert the pair performed was that it was such a collaborative effort, a true community event. From the Babcock Partners lowering the rent on the theater to make it doable to Billings master tuner Greg Depner donating his time to bring over a grand piano. Then there was the aspect that these two Grammy nominated musicians played alongside promising Billings high school students, cellist Lewis Rawlinson and violinist Nicole Ficek.

Rawlinson even improvised a bit with Aaberg and Anger on a Bach piece, saying afterward, "I've never done anything like that before.''

Aaberg, who returned to Chester where he runs a bed and breakfast with his wife Patty and a recording studio, dropped plenty of hints during the two-hour show Monday for Billings to rally around the Babcock. He also talked about the importance of music lessons. That's why he was in town Monday and Tuesday, working with music students at six area schools. He works with the non-profit, Arts Without Boundaries, to create low-cost master classes for young music students along with providing quality instruments for student use. The group also enhances visual art opportunities for students by bringing in workshops and residencies.

For more information about Arts Without Boundaries, e-mail Darell Turnicuff, at darell@artswithoutboundaries.org.