The date for my Princeton concert is finally, well, finalized. I got word from the Theological seminary that the date had been accepted so I can start promoting the event!
Sunday, October 20th at 4:30 PM at the Princeton Theological Seminary Chapel
This has been a tumultuous year. After last years resounding success of a concert, my Pianist, Jeff Farrington died suddenly. That was emotionally difficult since we had worked together for almost 30 years, but also, there was a big hole in my life that needed to be filled. I needed a new pianist.
My friend and pianist Frances Slade and I had played the Brahms e minor sonata last year for a group she was involved with. She had been preparing for it with a different cellist and asked me to join her since I knew the piece. We performed it twice for different situations and it was a lot of fun. When Jeff died, she suggested we do it on this years concert at the Seminary and I quickly agreed. Even though I did the F Major sonata two years ago, the e minor is so different, and it was a great, much needed offer at a difficult time.
But she wasn’t going to be my “regular pianist” so I approached Patrick Fink, Jerry’s teacher (remember Jerry, he has been opening up my concerts for a few years). I asked him if he knew anyone who could play as well as Jeff that I might talk to about being my collaborator. I knew Patrick was in a PhD program and from my experience, PhD candidates have NO TIME! But he was eager to play with me.
Another pianist, this time, one of Jeff’s colleagues, appeared on the scene. He had worked with Robert Helps at Princeton at the same time Jeff worked with him. He had also continued working with Sofia Rossoff, a renowned teacher in NYC and had been Jeff’s friend and colleague for many years. He and I were probably closer to Jeff than anyone else (although we had never met). We both helped Jeff’s sister with her executor duties for Jeff’s estate… and we got to know each other. So we are playing together, too, preparing a completely separate program for a concert sometime in the Winter (early February?)
So this is a new chapter in my playing. I have mentioned before that I am upping my game with all this new material to work on at the same time. I still feel the press of keeping so many balls in the air, but it is exhilarating and satisfying. I think Jeff would approve!
More about the concert later!