What inspires your love of music?
My mother was an opera singer, and I grew up hearing music at all times in the house; so for me, hearing music is part of my life, and I couldn’t live without it. My mother and I loved to talk about music, so hearing music now always reminds me of my mother.
What initially drew you to the CSO?
My mother took me to the CSO when I was a child. We climbed up to the gallery (in those days, in the late 1950s, there was no elevator to the gallery level), and my mother told me all about the orchestra. After the first piece, I asked my mother what the man in the front of the orchestra did, since he didn’t seem to move. She told me he was the conductor, and that conductor was Fritz Reiner, who was known for not moving. I’ve been going to the symphony ever since then. I got my own subscription in the early 1970s, when I started working, and have had a subscription ever since. My mother heard every music director from Frederick Stock to Muti, and I’ve heard them all from Reiner to Muti.
Why do you feel it’s important to support the CSOA as a member of the Theodore Thomas Society?
The symphony is a major part of my life, and I want to see it continue for generations so that others may enjoy the beauty of classical music and hear the best orchestra in the world.
