Where were we before Modesto, Botox and Plastic Surgery?

Before Plastic Surgery, Modesto and Botox, we spent met a wonderful retired pianist named Joan Orvis who lived next door.

There’s a lot before Modesto, Botox, and Plastic Surgery.  But today, I was reminded of Dr. Wu (Tammy’s) neighbor – while she was an undergraduate student at Brown University.

Here’s the story which I posted on FaceBook, but I share here:

My story of pianist Joan Orvis, our friend.

I want to spend a moment here to celebrate my memory of my friend pianist Joan Orvis. I met her when Tammy and I were young students at Brown University. Tammy lived off campus on Blackstone Blvd. She had a neighbor (Joan) in her apartment complex who played piano from time to time. She found out that I played violin. She introduced me to piano trio music at the highest level. I had always loved listening to piano trios, but never had the chance to play them. Her sister lived nearby and was a professional cellist. The three of us would get together regularly through my 8 years at Brown University and play trios. This was completely off the grid from Brown University. We even performed throughout Rhode Island as a trio. Some of my favorite classical music is piano trios and quartets, and all this blossomed from the time that I spent with Joan and her sister. Joan was a retired piano professor from University of Wisconsin-Platteville for nearly 30 years. I was just checking the internet to see what has happened to my friend whom I’ve lost contact with. I just found out that she passed away in 2001. My memories of that time were jogged when I saw Chee Yun’s posting about a piano quartet which I’ve always loved. I’ve shared that version on FB this morning (please see that video – it is quite worthy). In this link, the piano is played by one of Joan Orvis’ teacher (Menahem Pressler who is now 90 years old), so I share it here: http://youtu.be/W4_aE1CVr1s.

 

and for reference, here’s Chee Yun’s posting of a rehearsal in Hawaii:  http://youtu.be/V0O7egcMCHg

I have much to be thankful for.  Thank you Joan for your friendship and the wonderful music.

– Calvin Lee