As many of you know, last weekend we were in Providence, where the PMO gave the U.S. premiere of my Concerto per orchestra a pizzico; after the performance, we all gathered at the home of Maestro Mark Davis, where food, wine, good cheer —and, of course, mandolins— were in abundance.
Suddenly, out of the blue, while we were squatting around a table, happily munching away, a member of the PMO —if I recall correctly, it was concertmaster Josh Bell— hinted at my daughter (who was evidently much more interested in the Davis' cat, NOT all the mandolins around her 
), looked at me and asked with a nod: "Perhaps a 6th-generation mandolinist?" I shrugged, smiled back, and kept on munching, the thought already gone from my mind a minimillimicrosecond later.
Yesterday, as I was working out my squeaky muscles on Sevcik —hardly a musical text to love— my daughter came into the room, gave me one of those unmistakeable looks of 100% honesty, 0% pretense, and asked in dulcet tones: "Some day, can I ALSO learn how to play the mandolin?" Incidentally, she is already an able violinist... 
No promises made, of course, but it seems that the seeds have been sown... If she goes ahead with this, I will have all sorts of questions about the particular concerns pertaining to young mandolinists. Alex, my friend... brace yourself for many, many questions from me! 
It is not man that lives but his work. (Ioannis Kapodistrias)
Reply With Quote
)
Bookmarks