Peabody student days.

Created by jlaster34 11 years ago
My contact with Lucien Stark was as a student at Peabody in Nashville from 1961-1965. I'm not sure quite how this came about, but one day Lucien asked if I would mind turning pages for him on an up-coming chamber music concert. I agreed. I must have executed this task to his liking, because it was not too long before I was sitting on stage in a chair to his left, watching the score with great intent in order to flip the page at the right time. What a music lesson it was! To see the score, to hear the music, and to observe the performance from a different vantage point. I learned a lot of chamber music during those years. And, I never hear any of the violin sonatas by Brahms without recalling the times I turned pages for one of his concerts. Lucien was a member of my doctoral committee, and at my oral exam he asked me to name a few 20th century German composers who composed chorale-based works for organ. I began to list a few names along with titles. After about five or six names, I stopped and asked if that were sufficient. His response has remained with me for years. "Well, that's more than I knew!" A chuckle from the committee and the chairman went on to the next member. That evening, my wife and I attended a concert in the Social-Religious building, and Lucien came and sat next to us, congratulating, "the new doctor!" It was a very special day!