Full Circle

April 22, 2016, 8:53 PM · Back in 1978, I sat on one side of a an elementary school music room with instruments lined up on the other. While our names were called in alphabetical order to choose an instrument, my eyes were on the violin. Unfortunately (or fourtunately) by the time they got to the "S"'s all the violins were taken up. The music teacher convinced me that the viola was "just like the violin", and I fell for the sales pitch. Later that day I walked home with viola in tow and never looked back.

A year or so later my family moved out of state and found me a private viola teacher out of the local university. According to my mother, my new teacher took me on as an experiment. She didn't normally teach young children. Lessons as I remember them were wonderful experiences. I walked amongst the "adults" at the university once a week, played recitals and even joined a university sponsored orchestra at the tender age of 10 or so. Without knowing it, I auditioned for Sewannee Music Festival and got accepted. It was the best summer ever. I entertained the idea of becomming a proffesional violist when I grew up.

Flash forward 30+ years.

Music didn't end up being my career. Instead I joined the corporate world in high-tech and O&G. Despite that career choice, music was always a part of my life, following me from California to Malaysia and back in the form of private lessons, community orchestras and chamber music groups. A few years ago, I wanted to re-connect with my musical legacy. I reached out to the university where my first private viola teacher used to teach and was given her current email address. It turned out that she moved on to teaching elementary school music! We be-friended each other on Facebook where we picked up where we left off 30 years ago - her giving me advice on how to approach different pieces and tacking technical challenges.

This summer, my musical life will be making a full circle. Dr. Creider will be attending camp with me. Not only will she be atending camp with me, but we will be sharing a lodge and playing a few pieces together, including one for three violas with one of my more recent teachers.

One of the pieces we will be playing together is the Schoenberg sextet "Transifgured Night" at her request. I found 4 other brave and daring souls to play this piece with us. Once again, 35 years later, I'm finding myself asking her for advice on how to play certain passages. It is a great leap from the last lesson I had with her when I studying Wolfhart etudes.

I hope that I can play it well enough to make her proud that she was once my teacher.