A Singular Honor

Dr. Rosemary Schroeder. You may not have heard of her. I hadn't, other than simply as Rosemary, one of our corner peace protesters when she was in town. I heard from a friend that she traveled a lot, giving piano concerts. Really good piano concerts. I also knew that we two had about an hour's conversation - between bouts of traffic noise - on the details of selling a house via contract for deed to one's own child.

Just a few weeks ago she returned to our protest corner for a couple of our peace protests. At the end of the first one, she handed me a free ticket and an invitation to an upcoming concert  just a few miles from our corner. I was ready for some music, and put the date on my calendar.

Last night was the night.

Fortunately the ticket had an address on it, since I was completely uninformed of its location. Internet maps weren't very helpful, leaving too many street names off  for me to orient myself until I found several different ways to refine the search. Even then, once in the area, some street signs didn't match the maps. Luckily, I left plenty early. Even more luckily, pleasant weather invited several dogwalkers out to cross my path and offer information.

I arrived well before performance time, early enough to meet Rosemary outside and be introduced to her husband and son. After a brief chat, we wandered in. I was about to pick a seat somewhere where a single one was open, when she caught me and assured the usher that I was invited as a special guest to sit in the front section with her family! As I told her at the time, I knew I was honored by the ticket, I just didn't know I was special! She left us to take her place sitting with the other performers, and we perused the program and chatted until the concert started.

As it turned out, the format was a series of piano recitals, all performed by residents of the community on a new grand piano. Several vocalists performed as well. All in all, it was a great evening. Selections were either old (think "Tea For Two", for example) standards, or even older classics (think Bach, Beethoven, Rachmaninoff, etc.). All were my kinds of music, and Steve would have loved to be there were his back up to their chairs for that extended time.

No, it's not, not yet anyway, and thanks for asking. Hope becomes more difficult.

As music critic, I will say nearly all was performed competently. A few slightly sour notes popped up, but not enough to spoil the evening. (Hey, it has been done. I am nowhere near good enough to perform, but I'm good enough to recognize bad pitch.) I reminded myself that these women (as it turned out) were all quite good caliber musicians, fingers still limber and accurate despite age trying to take its toll. Vocalists I had a few quibbles with, but a good part of that was my dislike of a certain type of female vocalist and finding that type of voice difficult to listen to. Most of the notes were landed, but not all, and that jarred, particularly in contrast to the rest of the concert.

But, all in all, quite easy listening. And then ....

Rosemary stepped up to the piano. As her fingers started caressing the keys, it was suddenly plain that what we had been listening to had been OK. But this was music! What came before had been skillful pounding. This whispered, danced, sang! I had often heard about auditions where a single artist stood out with a performance from the soul, where others merely played competently. Finally I knew what those people were talking about.

Oh, have I mentioned that Rosemary has played around the world? Europe, South America, China, Japan, New York and Florida make part of the  list. And I, now, have had the honor of listening to her here in Arizona!

Thank you, Rosemary!