Description  |  1. Introduction  |  2. Early Teachers  |  3. Teachers by Example  |  4. Conductors, Pianists, Composers and other related inspirations  |  5. Composers and Other Inspirations  |  6. Colleagues, Family and Friends, and mostly, just working hard  |  7. 'We get by with a little help from our friends' - thanks to The Beatles

2. Early Teachers (cont.)

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Joe Allard was the teacher who had taught my teachers, Jeff Lerner (although a clarinetist who studied with Bonade, he took a few lessons from Allard), and Harvey Pittel (who also studied with Fred Hemke, Franlkin Stokes, as I recall). But Joe was consistent with both of them and I knew Joe taught at New England Conservatory, where all my relatives, save for my parents lived. Aunts and uncles, cousins and grandmother were all there, and I still wasn't ready to study in NY or Los Angeles. So I applied to just one school for graduate school, was on the wait-list until May 1, and then accepted. (thank-you to whomever turned the school down, allowing a place for me). I arrived at school with a hernia (I tried to pick up a desk with everything in it in Houston, and had to have an operation the day after I landed in Boston). So, for the first 3 weeks, I couldn't play the sax, and was in a lot of pain, the recovery being worse than the injury in those days. All of my new friends told me jokes--to see me both laugh and cry at the same time. But Joe Allard visited me in the Dorm--and he said 'Don't worry, everything will be okay.' And I believed him. Actually, Joe was so wise, with a Yoda ('Star-Wars movie wise man) zen like quality, that I had to believe, and ultimately, after many months, did. Joe was an empath. He felt what I (and all of his students) felt on both a musical and a personal level, as he brought out the best in us. For instance, if I was playing on a reed that was a little too soft, Joe would literally start to choke, as if the reed were closing on him. And of course, if something was wrong, personally, I didn't have to tell him; he already knew!(at least we all felt he knew), and was able to reassure and guide us through it. This was a TEACHER. All of his students (just as his contemporary Marcel Mule (who was 10 years older) played differently from each other; we played like ourselves. And, I believe we all appreciated our teacher.

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3. Teachers by Example

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