I was introduced to classical music
when I moved to New York to study painting at the Art Students League. Carnegie
Hall was just down the street, and I got a job there working the concession
stand to help pay my rent. I was able to watch many of the concerts and fell in
love with Mozart, Beethoven, and Brahms, especially their violin pieces. I saw
many of the world's greatest violinists, Itzhak Perlman and Pinchas Zukerman, Isaac Stern, the savior of Carnegie Hall, and many others, and was fascinated to watch as they
played these masterpieces. The violin was often tucked under their arm as they
walked on stage, but when they raised it to their shoulder and rested their
cheek on the base of the instrument it became a part of their body. The bow was
held gently but firmly, and as it moved across the strings it seemed to be
caressing a lover. The fingers on the other hand moved with incredible
dexterity sometimes pressing powerfully on the strings sometimes floating
above. Their concentration was all consuming. It was something I always wanted
to paint, and finally did...
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