Friday report

I digitized quite a stack of paper at the Putney library yesterday when I was there. Ellen dropped me there on her way to Northampton to meet Wallace. So I had several hours in Putney while she was in Northampton. One reason for doing that, was that I wanted to meet with Mark Kennedy and his wife, Cathy, who were driving down from South Hero, Vermont to Connecticut and wanted to just get off at Putney and see Ellen and me for a few minutes at the Putney Coop. The timing didn't work for Ellen because she had to get to Northampton, but it was OK for me just to be there and meet Mark and Cathy when they came through. So I met them at the Coop and we had lunch together and had a nice visit.

Mark and Cathy

My digitizing included a xerox copy of Kierkegaard's Works of Love, which is one of my favorite books of all time. Years ago I had lent my regular book copy to someone, but not before I made a photocopy of it; so I had the photocopy but I had forgotten where it was. A few weeks ago I wanted to find it because I wanted to read a portion of it to a friend who was experiencing something I thought was very relevant to what Kierkegaard was saying. But I had no idea where the photocopy was. But Wednesday I found it and I took it with me to the library and digitized it. So now it is on my computer. Now I can print out the passage that I wanted to give to my friend, make a file of it and send it to him.

When Ellen picked me up at the library yesterday it was just in time to drive to Brattleboro and meet the entire Feinland family at the Food Cart Round-up. Unlike the last time we went, it was a beautiful evening and boy, was this event packed with people! We got there early enough to be ahead of the crowd, and we had some delicious pizza and listened to some country music, not only with the Feinland's, but also with Eliza and Sarah and Phoebe and Maggie ( Cliff came along later ) and some other people we knew, and we had quite a good time. I had a chance to talk a bit with Max about  his recent trip to Boulder, Colorado to look at University of Colorado. He's quite excited about going there. Of course, he still has to apply and be accepted, but I have little doubt that he will be. That does still leave the issue of funding the education, however!  He is applying for Early Decision, but doesn't learn about his aid package until fairly late.

Today, Ellen and I went downtown. I dropped her at Hannaford's while she shopped and I went to the Brattleboro Coop to get some things, and then came back and picked her up. This afternoon she's been baking things for the Guilford fair booth while I do some work on the computer. Pretty soon we will leave to take all our contributions down to the Guilford church and leave from there (my contributions are small paper plates and orange juice). 

Tomorrow, we've made a date to meet a realtor at 125 Morningside Commons where there is a one-level condo for sale. We've had our eye out for a one-level condo there for some time and now there is one available. However, an offer has already been made on it by someone, so it may be too late. But it's always a good idea to take a look. You always learn something just by looking. 

Catching up

I have a little catching up to do. I posted Stewart's letter, but nothing about us for about a week. It is definitely not as easy to maintain my blog at home because I do not have computer access to the internet from the  house, and an added complication is that I cannot upload photos from my iPhone to my blog anymore.  I guess my 4S Apple smart phone is pretty much obsolete, though I am loathe to replace it, because for basics, it works fine.

So - what have we done? I'll go backwards. Today, I had a dental appointment for cleaning at 11:45a.m., and Ellen wanted to go visit Eliza before that. So we left a little after 10a.m., I took her to Eliza's and dropped her off. Then I had just a little time to go to the Putney Library to download email. But for some reason, neither laptop would let me download email! The MacBook  Pro would not accept my usual password for my Sover.net account, and the MacBook Air just wouldn't download... period.  No explanations. Grrr. Downloading on the MacBook Air has been working fine up until today. So who knows what's going on there.

At the dentist's I had a male hygienist. Alex. First time, I think, that I have had a male hygienist. He was very nice, and almost overly-solicitous. However, he used the "sandblast" approach to cleaning (which involves irrigation and suction) which I find unpleasant. But I got though it. No cavities. He said I seem to be taking good care of my teeth, but I have some "deep pockets" between my teeth in the back on both sides which are of concern. Using a water pic would probably be useful.

Then I ran a couple of errands and went back to get Ellen. Maggie, Sarah's  new baby, keeps them busy. She cries a lot and is not easily comforted. Someone has to hold her much of the time. So having Ellen there was helpful.

Yesterday, we had an excursion. Tom and Courtney MacLachlan invited us down to visit them in  Massachusetts.  They are friends that go back almost fifty years for me, back to my years at Lawrence University in Appleton, WI. I was Dean of Men, and they were head residents in Trevor Hall, a men's dorm. So Tom was part of my Dean's team - HR's, RA's, myself and John Nissen, Ass't Dean of Men. We had a great time together. Lots of laughter. Tom was also Ass't Minister at First Congregational Church in Appleton, where we went to church. When we moved back to Vermont, Tom and Courtney came back east too, and for a while, Tom was an ass't minister at the Congregational Church in nearby Keene, NH. Eventually, Tom left parish ministry and became an academic, working in the Community College system in the Boston North Shore area. They live in Newburyport, MA now, but their daughter, Kate, and her family, live in Burlington, VT, and their son Alex and his family live in Northampton, MA. Alex teaches at the Hilltown School where Tamar has been a student all these years. Tamar actually had him as a teacher one year. So Tom and Courtney have been drawn to our area by family ties, and this year they bought a little cabin on a lake outside Northampton in Goshen, MA, about an hour's drive from here (and very close to Alex). We had not seen them for a while, and had never seen their cabin. So we met for lunch in Shellburn Falls, MA, near the famous Bridge of Flowers, and afterward drove to their cabin. They also have a dog, a 100% mutt named Caesar. We had a lovely lunch, take out from a pub right next to the Bridge of Flowers, sitting on some benches next to a stone wall. Then we explored the Bridge which is spectacular. Then went to Hammond Pond, where their cabin is. Very simple, but cozy. We had a very nice time, and vowed to arrange a future gathering in Wilmington,VT (sort of a central gathering point) that would include Mary Anderson (John Nissen's widow) who also knows them from Lawrence years and after, and lives in Bennington, VT (which makes Wilmington a good gathering point). 

We came back via Route 112 - a different way that took us through Jacksonville, VT - a place we rarely go - and ended up in Brattleboro in time to take in a movie at the Latchis Theater - The Farewell - which is a wonderful movie about a Chinese family stretched between China and New York City, and their resolve not to tell grandma she is dying of cancer but to all gather (in China) to see her anyway on the pretext of a wedding. Maintaining this pretense was very difficult, and almost breaks down. You are left wondering how much grandma really knows!

Monday was basically a be-at-home day. It was a beautiful day weather-wise. I did some mowing. Did some reading. Enjoyed the deck. I went up to the Dummerston Church to look for anthem for the choir (for September 8th) and didn't find what I was looking for in the file, but eventually found it in a book at home! We invited John and Cynthia for supper, but they were too tired to come (see Saturday below). We watched TV in the evening.

Sunday we went to a Union Service of the four churches (Guilford, Dummerston, W. Brattleboro and Centre Church) which was held this time at Centre Church in Brattleboro. We sang in the choir, which met at 8:45a.m. The organist and Choir Director, Mary Milkey-May, was someone we had never met before, and had never heard play the organ. She is excellent! She played a Buxtehude piece as a Prelude which was great! We liked her choir direction also, though she took the Introit, Be Still and Know, a bit faster than I do (we sing this in Dummerston as an Introit almost every Sunday). After church we bought a Sunday New York Times and got the Spelling Bee! So we worked on that in the afternoon, read the Times and listened to NPR in the evening. I worked on transcribing Stewart's letter while Ellen watched a movie on the TV.

Saturday was the day of the memorial service for Cynthia's sister, Lyn, who passed away last week (August 11th, actually). The service was held in the Hartford, VT UCC church, near White River Junction, about an hour or so away, and a place very familiar to me because when I was the UCC Annuitant Visitor years ago, I would hold Annuitant Lunches there every fall, so I knew the "kitchen ladies" very well. One of them was working on the reception luncheon and remembered me very well. John and Cynthia played at the service - very beautifully, I have to say. John had a particularly lovely solo on Irish whistle. They also played harp/cello duo. That was the high point of the service for me. But there were many thoughtful and emotional remembrances of Lyn and we got a good sense of her as a mother and grandmother and as a lively, feisty person. There was a luncheon afterward. Ellen was suffering from an allergy attack, so after the service she sat in the car while I went to the luncheon. I got to meet some of Cynthia's other siblings, and John pointed out other relatives as well. It is a big family. If John and Cynthia's music was the high point, the low-point was an encounter with a fundamentalist preacher who was at the service - not a member of the family. He was sitting right behind me and was very friendly at first, but when we got to talking afterward and he learned I was a UCC minister and approved of gay marriage, he dropped me like a hot potato and refused eye contact after that! Fortunately, he left early (maybe because of me!). We left at 9:30a.m. and didn't get home until almost five. We took a more leisurely drive home on Route 5 instead of I-91, and that was a good idea. The day was tiring, but even more so for John and Cynthia - it was draining for them,  and they were still recovering Monday.

Friday was the day we came back  from Maine. We hung out with Katie and Savanna in the morning, and then left around noon. Another gorgeous day! The trip back was not bad despite Friday end-of-summer tourist traffic (most of it northbound fortunately!). We stopped for bread at When Pigs Fly and for a late lunch/early supper at Bob's Clam Hut - our usual stops. No time to walk the beach at Ogunquit, unfortunately. Got home around 7:30 as I recall (a bit hazy on that). It was a cool evening and it got into the 40's at night. Great for sleeping.

So what else? Ah ---  waiting for me at home outside the front door was Robert Alter's 3-Volume, The Hebrew Bible: Translation and Commentary, which I had ordered online. That was exciting! More on that later.

Photos:

Evelyn "Lyn" Hughes McDaniel (1945-2019)

Tom,  Courtney and Caesar

A view from The Bridge of Flowers

The Bridge of Flowers is an old trolley bridge in Shelburne Falls which decades ago was converted into a garden which lines both sides of the bridge and provides a footpath down the middle. It is spectacular in every way, has an amazing variety of flowers, shrubs and small trees, is very well-maintained, and draws thousands of visitors.

If you didn't know that the artichoke is a member of the thistle family, this will convince you!

One of many spectacular blossoms

Looking down the bridge from one end

Me with Tom and Courtney near their cabin

Gotta run - more later.

Stewart Letter #9

  Here is the next letter in the Stewart series. He is still at home, waiting for a 2nd physical exam for the Army (after they found a broken bone in his ankle in the first exam  - six months old and not fully healed).                                                                

 

September 10, 1944

Dear Dad,

            Just to be sure when I could take my physical over again, I went to down to the Federal Offices Building and asked the man who took care of my mental examination. He said that I was not eligible for re-examination until Oct. 22 and since I want to get my dental work done at the U dental college, and there is nothing else to interfere, I am going to wait until then and take it over again then, since I will be able to pass it then instead of starting in at the U Oct. 2. I am planning to do a lot of reading in the next few weeks since I will have so much time for it. Already I have read The Undertow by E. E. Knowles,[i]  and I have read over half of Lincoln Steffins autobiography, starting from the beginning.[ii]

            Mother has not yet received the hundred dollars you sent at the beginning of August.  She has received the regular check, however.

           

            The first two terms of ASTP reserve training are the same for ERC and ACER members, but at the end of the second twelve weeks or at the beginning of the third term, the courses are divided between those who are members of the ACER, those in the ERC who were chosen in the second term for premedical training , and those chosen for engineering training. I am going to try very hard to be chosen for pre-medical training, for I would prefer that to the others. Of course, you understand, this training does not assure me of being allowed to participate in the ASTP in the regular army, but it gives me a better chance for having had the extra training. I must trust to my own ability in hoping to continue in the regular army, and, by the way, I probably will be in line for induction even though the war is over, because after the November election, it is likely that a law will be passed to draft young men as they graduate from high school to replace those that have been in the army for many years.

            Fall has come at last, although the weather has not changed perceptibly in acknowledgement of it. Larry has started at Marshall, taking up where I left off.[iii] Choir practice will begin again Wednesday night. and it is a good thing, because my throat has been getting sore every time I had to sing two or three verses of a hymn, simply because  I am not used to it.

            In just four years I will be able to vote in the national election, and I will, no doubt, be vitally interested by that time; of course, I am interested now, but not quite as vitally as adults, since I cannot vote, and I am busy getting my education.

            I believe that the American public should go on in their work as if the war were sure to last in Germany at least two more years, and then it would probably end much sooner than they are speculating, for, if we cannot think about Victory without becoming slack in our duty, then we have no right to think about it, even though this is just about the only country in the world where we can be slack and still win a hard war.

            I know that I will hardly be able to wait until you can tell the full story of what you are now experiencing. There are, no doubt, many others who are having experiences just as interesting, but these are happening to you, and therefore we are extremely interested.

            Do as much as you can to keep well with all the means at your disposal.

                                                            Your loving son,

                                                                        Stewart

---

[i] The Undertow was published  in 1906 by Robert E. Knowles (not E. E. ) who was at that time described as "Canada's most famous novelist." It was his second novel, the first being St. Cuthbert's. He was a Presbyterian minister. He died in 1946. The Undertow seems to be available online as an e-book. Knowles is the subject of a fairly recent blog post:

Robert E.Knowles, author of The Undertow

"Robert E. Knowles is the very sort of fellow one would expect to have been the subject of a biography. I'm thinking here of those dry, polite stories of a life, often penned by friends, that were published in the early half of the last century. Not only was Knowles "One of Canada's Best Known Novelists" – this according to the March 1909 Canadian Bookman – but he was once Canada's preeminent Presbyterian preacher, a man renowned throughout the Dominion for his sermons and oratorical skills."

[ii] Lincoln Steffins was a journalist, one of the best known of the "muckrakers" of the Progressive Era of the early 20th century. His Autobiography was published in 1931.

Lincoln Steffins

[iii] I started 7th grade at Marshall the Fall of 1944. The Junior High and Senior High were housed in one building. My career at Marshall was interrupted when mother and I moved to Kentucky in the fall of 1945 to join dad at Camp Breckinridge, and then was ended when we moved to Anamosa, IA in summer of 1946.

Whoops!

I went down to the cottage with the Subaru to let Brendon out and when I was turning around I got caught on a granite curb that I didn't see - it was under the hood in my line of vision. So now the car is hung up on this granite curb and I can't drive off of it because two of my wheels are off the ground! So, I've called AAA. I'm really getting my money's worth out of the AAA membership this summer.

Later:
AAA didn't come until about 7:45 - about 2 1/2 hours after I called - but they finally arrived, and the driver was an older guy who was knowledgeable about these circumstances. He used a big jack to good effect, and eventually I was able to just drive it free. The mud guard on the right front wheel got a bit crumpled, but it is still attached. Car seems to drive ok. So - thanks to AAA, it turned out ok. But the guy had to come all the way from Knox, ME - Sparky's Roadside Service. About two hours  away! I asked  him why AAA called him and not someone closer, and he said, "Because they know I know what I am doing." Worth waiting for!

Later yet:
Obviously, we are still in Owl's Head. We decided to stay here today and return to Vermont tomorrow. We hung out at the cottage this morning, went to a Scottish restaurant in Rockland for lunch, then met Katie and Savanna and went to Bixby's Chocolate Factory in Rockland which turned out to be really interesting - we got a 20-minute presentation about the history and production of chocolate which was very informative. They had good chocolate too. And gelato! It was coming home from there that I got stuck at the cottage. Oh well! Most of the day was great.

The Subaru hung up on a granite curb

The Bixby Chocolate Factory in Rockland,  ME

These are cacao pods, containing about 30 cacao seeds = beans.

This is where the chocolate gets made

Katie looking over chocolate wares

Scenes from right here

Just a few glimpses of what it's like here at Jim and Mary's:

Mary's beautiful vegetable garden

Jim and Mary's house and garage

Wild flowers in front of the house

The road down to the shore cottage where Katie, Savanna and Brendon are staying

Approaching the shore

The rocky beach

The shore cottage

Tuesday evening cook-out at the cottage

Ellen made this beautiful salad from beets harvested from Mary's garden

Good times in Rockland, ME

Monday was Union Fair Day, and Tuesday was Rockland Day. Jim invited Katie to join him for busking in front of the Farnsworth Museum, and they had a good time together - not surprisingly, their voices go well together. Ellen joined them for a threesome for a couple of songs and even I joined in on a couple. After busking, Ellen and I went to the Farnsworth, which had a special show on an artist colony of the mid-20th century outside Rockland called "Slab City." Some artists displayed  were Lois Dodd, Alex Katz, Rackstraw Downes, Red Grooms, Bernard Langlais, Yvonne Jacquette and Neil Welliver, among notable others. Not household names, but interesting and quite varied in style. We were familiar with Neil Welliver and Bernard Langlais from other places. Their work was immediately identifiable without consulting the card. I was particularly attracted to the hyper-realism of Rackstraw Downes. But the most striking exhibit in the museum, both Ellen and I felt, was of art done by local elementary school students. Lucky kids to have an art teacher and program that makes it possible for them to produce work like this. Another striking exhibit was of a variety of folding screens. We love the Farnsworth.

Jim and Katie busking

The Tolles Family Singers!

Bernard Langlais

Rackstraw Downes

Neil Welliver

Hope Elementary School student art

Student art - cut paper on wood portraits of Maine lighthouses

Two beautiful screens

Some Photos from last week

Here are some photos I didn't have a chance to include in posts last week:

A beautiful bouquet on the coffee table - for our party with the Feinlands a week ago Saturday. Ellen got the flowers at the Brattleboro Farmer's Market.

Sunday (the 11th) we sat for a bit after church and enjoyed this scene behind the church - the Dummerston Fire Station reflected in a pond.

One morning I had this fabulous summer-time breakfast on the deck - a bowl of cereal with six kinds of fresh fruit, a Morning-Glory Muffin from Grandma Millers Bakery, and a smoothie.

Brendon making pot-holders on the sewing machine

Nice job, Brendon!

Brendon's antique tea kettle

Union Fair

We came to Maine Sunday! We left home after 10a.m., and made stops at Bob's Clam Hut, When Pigs Fly Bread, and Round Top Ice Cream - all absolutely jammed with tourists. We arrived at Jim and Mary's at a bit after 5p.m.  Mary had prepared a delicious supper.

Earlier today, K,S,B,E & I all went to the Wild Blueberry Festival Fair in Union, ME. This is where Savanna broke her ankle last year getting off the Ferris wheel almost to the day (she broke her ankle on August 22nd last year). No falls this year. We spent most of the time at the horse-pulling contest, which included one set with a team of three - I had never seen that before. Also had Pad Thai, Blueberry Pie, and saw lots of exhibits. Nice day!

We came back to Jim and Mary's and had another lovely supper - this time one Ellen brought, a Spanish Rice dish fixed the way her mother used to make it. After supper, we played Oh Hell (the card game we played with K,S and B at the lake in the Adirondaks back in July). Playing with seven people was even more unpredictable than with five; Savanna won.

A team of three horses pulling 10,000 lbs.

Katie and Brendon on the Merry-go-Round

Katie, Brendon and Savanna in a shady spot

Union Fair Posters - past and present

Quilts in the Exhibit Hall

The 150th Anniversary Quilt (yea, this fair started in 1869!) A different person made each square, and we were invited to vote for our favorite.

the infamous Ferris Wheel!

Friday update

Brendon seems to be enjoying his stay. He has been making quilted hot pads on the sewing machine and getting his tea pot to boil water with an oil flame. He and Ellen have gone swimming a couple of  times (in the West River) and tonight they are going to the movies. Last night he stayed home while we went to a Hallowell rehearsal. After we got back we watched an old time-lapse video of our house being built, which we all enjoyed seeing. It's sort of a hoot. Tomorrow he will stay home while we go to Joan Shimer's funeral at the Guilford Church. Sunday, we head for Maine. I've been dealing with some lower intestine woes and hope to be in good enough shape to travel Sunday!

Meanwhile, the Feinlands are all in Boulder, CO checking out U of Colorado for Max (and Ben too for grad school). That would be quite something if they ended up there! I would have them say hello to Rob, but he is at the Mayo Clinic getting a stem-cell transplant, and will be there six weeks. Sending him all the good wishes in the world!

Quick update

We have Brendon with us. Katie & Savanna have gone to Maine. We 'll join them there at Jim's Sunday. I have a Dr's appt. tomorrow. 

Last Saturday, the entire Feinland family plus John joined us for supper. Lovely! We played "Salad Bowl" after supper. 

Sunday I had a Music Committee meeting at Dummerston. Planned choir for the next four months. After that - Spelling Bee! Watched TV in the eve.

Monday I did some mowing. Then I got into reading Richard Russo's novel Chances are .... Gripping! That kept me occupied all Tuesday! Today has been more reading and then doing stuff with Brendon. He bought an antique tea pot on a stand over an oil lamp with Ellen. We spent some time getting it to work. 

I accidentally found a file I didn't even know I had on my  computer - hundreds of emails from 1996 to 2002! That has been really fascinating reading to say the least. Those were important years! 

And now to bed ! 

Our last day at Marlboro

We are back! We are hearing the Mozart String Quintet in D-Major, Op. 593 again this morning. They are working on particular passages, so it is more broken up.

Mozart String Quintet: Stephanie Zyzak, violin; Mari Lee, violin; Hwayoon Lee, viola; Kim Kashkashian, viola; Edvard Pogossian, cello

Later:
Mozart is over and now we will hear the Beethoven Piano Trio in G-Major, Op. 1, No. 2. This is the second of three piano trios composed by a youthful Beethoven and dedicated to Prince Lichnowsky.

Here is a musicologist's description:


"The G major Trio immediately establishes its symphonic scale with an imposing slow introduction – something unheard of in a piano trio, and rare even in a string quartet. But the start of the Allegro lightens the atmosphere with a wispy, capricious theme that hovers on the dominant rather than emphasizing the tonic, G – shades here of Haydn’s ‘Oxford’ Symphony. Haydnesque, too, is the way this theme derives from phrases in the introduction. Beethoven is less lavish with his material than in the E flat Trio, though there is a delightfully jaunty ‘second subject’, proposed by the violin and then elaborated by the piano. But the first theme dominates both the development and the typically ample coda, where Beethoven continues to make witty and whimsical play with the theme’s opening phrase. 

Haydn and Mozart wrote many Andantes in gently swaying 6/8 siciliano rhythm. But only rarely did they compose a siciliano in the slower, Adagio tempo. It is characteristic of the young Beethoven’s search for increased profundity of expression that the second movement of the G major Trio combines a siciliano lilt with an unprecedented hymn-like solemnity. The tempo marking, Largo con espressione, is itself novel and significant; and the rapt atmosphere is enhanced by the choice of key, E major, which sounds remote and radiant after G major. Beethoven shows a typical feeling for long-range tonal planning when he later plunges dramatically (with a sudden fortissimo) from B major to the work’s home key of G, initiating a searching modulating development of the opening theme. 

Though definitely a scherzo rather than a minuet, the third movement is less wilful than its counterpart in Op 1 No 1, playing insouciantly with rising and falling scales, à la Haydn. The Trio turns to B minor for a laconic waltz of comic banality – the kind of music likely to turn up in Beethoven’s works from the early years right through to the visionary late quartets. After the return of the scherzo Beethoven appends a brief coda that toys with the theme’s opening figure before dying away to pianissimo.

The finale was originally in 4/4 time. But at an early run-through the cellist Anton Kraft (best-known for his association with Haydn) suggested that the music would be better notated in 2/4, and Beethoven duly adopted the idea. Opening with a catchy ‘riding’ theme in rapid repeated notes (perfect for the violin, but artfully refashioned when the piano takes it over), this is another movement that infuses Haydn’s spirit with Beethoven’s own brand of boisterousness. The music is full of aggressive sforzando accents, rough dynamic contrasts (at their most extreme in the coda) and mysterious or dramatic plunges to distant keys. The development alights for a while in E major, the key of the Adagio – another instance of Beethoven’s large-scale tonal strategy. But perhaps the wittiest moment of all comes with the start of the recapitulation. Here a smooth new figure in octaves on the piano seems to be preparing for the return of the ‘riding’ theme, which then enters unobtrusively, before we realize it, while the piano octaves continue as if nothing has happened.

 The first violinist for this piece is Brian Hong, who looks to be in his twenties (he is 25):

"Korean-American violinist Brian Hong is currently in pursuit of a Master’s Degree in Violin Performance at the Juilliard School under the guidance of Laurie Smukler and Li Lin, where he is a proud recipient of a prestigious Kovner Fellowship. A graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music, where he acquired a Bachelor’s Degree in violin performance under the tutelage of Donald Weilerstein, Mr. Hong’s past mentors have also included Sergiu Schwartz, Zvi Zeitlin, and Shmuel Ashkenasi. 

As soloist, Mr. Hong has performed with orchestras such as the Fairfax Symphony, the Chesapeake Orchestra, the US Army Orchestra, the National Philharmonic, the Springfield Symphony, and the Juilliard Orchestra, and has won top prizes in many major US Competitions, including first prize in the national finals of the Music Teacher’s National Association Competition (2012), first prize of the American String Teacher’s Association Competition (2016), first prize in the Hellam National Young Artist’s Competition (2016), and first prize in the Juilliard School’s Concerto Competition (2017).  Mr. Hong was also the first participant featured on NPR’s “From the Top” to perform on a period baroque instrument, playing an Uccellini Sonata with Christopher O’Riley on harpsichord. 

In addition to his many solo achievements, Mr. Hong has extensive experience as a chamber musician, having performed at such festivals as the Bowdoin International Music Festival, the Music Academy of the West, the Taos School of Music, the Perlman Music Program, Kneisel Hall, and Yellow Barn.  Mr. Hong was also a member of three different honors ensembles at NEC: the Atlas, Vasari and Neruda String Quartets, where he studied both classic and contemporary quartet repertoire with mentors such as Laurence Lesser, Kim Kashkashian, Donald Weilerstein, and Lucy Chapman, and performed abroad in cities such as Chicago and Washington, DC. 
Highlights of his past season include performances of the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with Kyle Pickett and the Springfield Symphony Orchestra in Springfield, Missouri, and performances of the Schoenberg Violin Concerto with Edward Gardner and the Juilliard Orchestra in New York City’s Alice Tully Hall, as well as appearances at Concerts in the Barn in Quilcene, WA."

 

Brian Hong

Just to fill out the trio, the pianist is Anna Polonsky and the cellist is Christine J. Lee.

Brian Hong, violin, and Christine Lee, cello. Anna Polonsky is hidden behind the cellist.

Later, after lunch:
We forgot our picnic lunch, so we went to the Chelsea Diner take-out window, which was great. Now we are back for the Beethoven Choral Fantasy, (piano, chorus and orchestra) which for decades has been the finale at the Festival. Rudolph Serkin played the piano for it for decades. Now it is co-director, Jonathan Biss. As Ellen put it, it's a goofy piece. But it's fun. We could sing in the chorus if we could, but we don't have the time to rehearse it tomorrow or Sunday (today it is just piano and orchestra). All these many years I could have come up and sung in the chorus, but never did. Quelle domage!

Orchestra before the Choral Fantasy rehearsal

Still later: Now the Choral Fantasy is over - what a piece! We are now on a little break before the final rehearsal of the afternoon - the Brahms Piano Quartet in C-Minor, Op.60, which Ellen heard the day I went to John's and which she says has some heart-breakingly lovely movements. That will be our last experience of the Festival this year, I guess. A fitting climax.