March 6, 2005 at 1:47 AM

So, on Wednesday we went to Tony's memorial service. We drove to Delaware, but it was a surprisingly short trip. It was in this pretty church, and there were tons of people there, which was good. We had to sit close to the front because it was the only pew left that had room for all 5 of us. At the very beginning, when the pastor was talking about it, tears were streaming down my cheeks, but I guess I was all cried-out from the rest of the week because I didn't cry that much during the rest of it. Two people gave speeches, and his groups played without him. (There were no violas on the program at all.) Relache played, "A Maze [With Grace]" (an awesome piece that's actually written as a maze, and the musicians chose their own line of music to the center, so the piece is never performed the same way twice.) Todd Thomas sang Simple Gifts and At The River. Three cellists played a Popper piece, his quartet played a trio, and the violinists also played two Bartok Duets.

The service seemed short. Marka (Tony's wife) was amazingly composed. There were a million people there we knew from around Philadelphia; it was odd to see them all in the same place (a violin maker we know, the director of Settlement, the conductor on one orchestra Tony was in, my violin teacher, and many many others). There was a huge line to see Marka, and we waited for another hour before seeing her.

We came home and slept for a while because we were just drained. Then we had dinner and went to bed, basically.

In other news, Mads had a masterclass with Kim Kashkashian yesterday. I think her performance was one of the best I've ever heard her play. Among other things (like telling her to practice more scales -- maybe she'll do it now that she's heard Kim Kashkashian tell her to!) Mads was told she has the potential to be a professional violist, which was encouraging, to say the least.

I've decided I like practicing in my parent's room more than the living room. It's warmer and it's basically just set up better. (I've recently noticed that if I play sitting down my back starts to hurt a lot. Sometimes I sit while playing in the living room, but it just works better to stand in my parent's room.) Also, it's on the third floor, and farther away from other people.

Gregg Alf called to say that a violin he had told us about during the fall is ready for us to look at! Yipeeeeee! I am getting kind of tired of this little 3/4 size...though, as my teacher said, it's true that on the bigger size I was shifting around where I should have been able to reach in one position. Oh well...maybe my hands will grow soon. (This particular violin of Gregg Alf's used to belong to someone who is retiring from the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and has very small hands.)

Going now to walk with my two big sisters, one back from college for spring break, to pick up some Chinese food. :-)

--alice

From Scott 68
Posted on March 6, 2005 at 7:07 PM

sad about tony

wow an alf im envoius

ps i love chinese!!!

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