Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2020/04/21
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]In 1980, on a cultural exchange assignment to Guatemala, I was paired one evening with the first-chair cellist of the Guatamala City, Mr. Manuel Alvarado. In high school, I held first chair cello in the orchestra, but I never learned how to read music. My mother was a trained concert pianist, so I had her play the music and then I played it mostly by ear. At the start of my senior year, I was hit with a sight-reading challenge and I went from first to fourth chair in 20 minutes. I looked at the class schedule and discovered the same time period for orchestra was a journalism class. The rest is history. I told Mr. Alvarado the story. After dinner, he asked me to play his cello. It had been 21 years since I had held a cello. It took me 15 minutes just to get the fingering for scales. ?You have music in your soul,? he said. ?Let me show you something.? He got a flashlight and illuminated the inside. I had been playing scales on a Stradivarius. http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Bill1941/RETROSPECT/Manuel+Alvarado_+Guatamala+City_+1980+___+02107.jpg.html ?Bill