Dear Friends,
I have a few memories and photos to share with you as I begin my final week of rehearsals and concerts with the San Diego Symphony.This picture is of my Dad and me standing by the piano when I was in high school in Mount Lebanon, PA. I started piano lessons when I was 8 years old.
I attended University of Michigan School of Music, got married, traveled, and moved to San Diego with ex-husband Jack Barranger. I became an active accompanist around town thanks to the guidance of my teacher and mentor George Trovillo who was a retired concert accompanist.In November of 1975 I got a call from Jim Hoffman of the San Diego Symphony who was in need of a pianist for Respigghi’s Fountains of Rome. Their regular pianist canceled at the last minute and Jim was desperate to get the part covered ASAP. He had gotten my name from his wife who had heard me accompany a singer at the San Diego Opera. Here is a picture of me around that time.
Naturally I was kind of nervous at the first San Diego Symphony rehearsal. The conductor Peter Eros had a thick Hungarian accent, and I wasn’t always sure I heard him correctly. I remember him rehearsing a complicated passage that I had in unison with the strings. He kept on saying “piano” but I wasn’t sure if he meant I was supposed to play my part too, or if he wanted the strings to play softly (piano.) So anytime I heard the word piano I played too. I think it was a bit of overkill, but I certainly didn’t want to look like a slacker.
Another fond memory I have is collaborating with Marvin Hamlisch who was our Principal Pops conductor. In October of 2008, during the height of election mania, we had a Halloween Pops concert with Marv and we were encouraged to wear costumes. So I came dressed as Sarah Palin.
My friend Sheila Sterling helped me with my hair and make up and I must say I pulled off “the look” pretty well (with the help of a red blazer I found at the Salvation Army.) I was playing keyboards right in front of Marv’s podium. I must have caught his eye with my get-up so during the concert he walked over with his microphone and started chatting me up to the audience. Somewhere along the way he fed me a line and I blurted out with my best Tina Fey imitation of “I can see Russia from here, . .” It got a big laugh. Marv and I had a special connection after that. I grieve for our loss.Another heartfelt connection through the Symphony was my friendship with Sheila and Hughes Potiker. The Symphony has a brilliant fundraising program called Partner with a Player in which a donor or donors sponsor an orchestra member. Once a year we had concerts where we would play for all the partners while they sat right next to us on the stage. Afterwards all of the musicians and their partners would enjoy a beautiful catered dinner at Symphony Hall. Sheila and Hughes “adopted” me during the first year of the program. Sadly Hughes passed away first and then Sheila (shown in this picture.)
I am honored that our partnership has lived on with their son and daughter-in-law Lowell and Julie Potiker. If it hadn’t been for the symphony I probably wouldn’t have gotten to know the this wonderful family.Probably the most thrilling memory of my San Diego Symphony career is our tour to Carnegie Hall and China in 2013. Here I am on stage at Carnegie Hall the morning of our performance.
I will close with this symphony publicity photo taken by my dear friend and musical colleague Beth Ross Buckley.I feel fortunate to have had so many wonderful experiences through my career with the Symphony. But my music making will not stop - I will continue to teach, plus I have plans to work on solo piano and harpsichord repertoire and present concerts at our house. More on that later.All the best,Mary
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