For You Publy . . .
The Star Carol
~ John Rutter ~
Last Sunday I drove a 400 mile round trip to Macon and back to see the Ehnes String Quartet at Mercer University in a program of Mendelssohn, Shostakovich, Wolf and Bartok. I played a role in the formation of the quartet, so I had to see them in action. It was good connecting with the gang again.
My old buddy Robert deMaine, principal cellist of the Detroit Symphony (and cellist of the quartet) will be taking the first chair cello slot at the Los Angeles Philharmonic next fall. I tipped him off to the better neighborhoods and private schools, things I learned in my 19 years in the Greater L. A. Area back in the old days.
Second violinist Amy Moretti runs the Music Department at Mercer, and she and husband Steve now have two boys. I babysat for their firstborn at a reception in Seattle a few years ago.
Violist Richard O'Neill, who is half Korean, has a slot on the UCLA faculty.
First violinist Jimmy Ehnes is now one of the world's leading violinists, now that Itzhak Perlman is semi-retired. I was amazed that he and the gang put the Schubert G Major Quartet, the Mount Everest of string quartets, to bed in just three rehearsals. They're playing that in Seattle next month.
It was good to immerse myself in the music again and talk shop with my old buddies from the Seattle days.
Tomorrow I'll be posting a choral work by contemporary English composer John Rutter on the Sunday Chapel thread, so don't miss it.
I’ll miss the wallerin’ but it was good that you got to see your friends perform again!
We used to live south of Macon in Warner Robbins when my hubby was in the Air Force, so I know that part of the country quite well. Or did.... :)