GONZAGA UNIVERSITY (My Freshman Year at College) - Chapter 5

       To backtrack just a bit, during my sophomore and junior years in high school, I entered and won every division of the Greater Spokane Music Festival, including the Concerto Division.  The prizes were mostly money (very welcome), except for the concerto competition.   The winner of that portion was scheduled for two performances of the Mozart Concerto in C Minor with the Spokane Philharmonic during their fall season.   (Writer's Side Note: This is my most favorite Mozart concerto, and subsequently I re-studied it with Sari Biro in San Francisco.    It was a staple in her repertoire and is included on her recently Remastered Boxed CD Set.   I performed it in San Francisco with chamber orchestra, and then several times in Europe many years later.   Every Mozart concerto has a cadenza connected to the first movement - and there are always several options included with the piano score.   I had listened to a recording of Robert Casadesus [well-known French pianist] who composed his own cadenza, and I liked it very much.   So I wrote to him, C/O the publishing company, to request his assistance in locating the published version so I might purchase it, as I hadn't been able to find it.   I also told him I was 16 years old and was performing the concerto with the Spokane Philharmonic.   He answered my letter, also sending me a printed copy of the cadenza, at no charge!   Of course, I sent him a profuse letter of thanks, and he answered it -  with an invitation to visit him and his family, if and whenever I should be happen to be in Paris!!   He passed away in 1972, just after his son Jean, also a pianist, sadly was killed in a motor accident).    Returning to the narrative:    I had appeared with the Spokane Junior Symphony in the 9th grade, performing one of the Bach "Brandenburg Concerti," and also the "Sugar Plum Fairy Variation" (on the celeste) from Tschaikovsky's "Nutcracker Suite!"  Talk about visions of the future!   Little did I realize that would be the very first of hundreds, if not thousands of performances (not to mention, rehearsals) of "The Nutcracker" that I would play later in my life, as  piano soloist for The New York City Ballet and then later, for Pacific Northwest Ballet.   And that "Nutcracker" would define my Christmas seasons for the next 35 years!    However, I was blissfully unaware of all this drama that would unveil itself.      

                  My first day at Gonzaga University was fraught with drama and stress.   During the previous week, I had met with an advisor to determine my course of study at this university.   Because I was schedule to attend the Eastman School of Music the following year as a transfer student, I was determined to take the very maximum credits allowed, so I selected courses that were required for my degree in music as well as electives in which I was interested.   If one has never been through this process before, let me say that a high degree of patience is necessary.    There is a limited amount of space for certain classes, and when they are filled, that is that.    One has to try to find a comparable option, if possible, or make do with different subjects of a similar nature.   This is somewhat like a crossword puzzle - and speed is of the essence in registering.   I remember getting the last place in a certain music theory class, no small feat, as I had to literally run from one room to another on different floors!   And without getting lost!    Then there were the mammoth lecture classes--which featured various professors, some more popular than others.    Certain courses were overcrowded, while others were on the small side.   I rather liked the large classes, because I could more or less get lost in the sea of matriculating students.   Always a copious note taker, I enjoyed the lectures--especially if the professor was knowledgeable and humorous, which some definitely were.   These classes were mostly English, World History, Mathematics, Philosophy and Religion.   (Gonzaga is a Catholic University - so all students are required to follow a plan of study for Philosophy and Religion courses, thus automatically graduating with a minor in Philosophy.    Because I had placed very high in math, I was enrolled automatically in first year trigonometry, which was either very difficult, or impossibly difficult, depending on the professor.   The music courses were much smaller in size, and also more precision oriented.   I loved music theory, and was more or less a 'natural,' thanks to my 'perfect pitch,' which most students did not possess.   History of music involved a lot of reading and memorization of facts about composers, their lives, style of composition, and their respective places in history which corresponded to world events.    A certain period of history could be defined by a movement in art, music, drama, or a historical event, cataclysmic or otherwise.    I also took subjects such as speech, sports history, European History, and participated in badminton and table tennis (in which I had excelled in high school).    Since I was a music major, I enrolled in many music courses, of course, plus Women's Glee Club, and Combined Glee Club (both men and women.)
     My piano teacher at this time (I had stopped studying with Dr. Moldenhauer - at mother's insistence as they did not get along very well) - was a lovely and inspiring woman named Trula Whelan who taught at Gonzaga as well as privately in her home, which is where I had my lessons.    I studied with her until I left Spokane;  it was she who entered me in all those competitions - and it was her husband who was the conductor of the Spokane Philharmonic (Harold Paul Whelan).   If this sounds like nepotism, in so far as my winning all competition divisions, rest assured it was not.    The judges were invited from various universities and music schools in the country.   Indeed one of them was Van Cliburn and his mother, which is when I was invited to play for him.   This was indeed a thrilling occasion for me, and I had a private coaching with both of them together.   (As you may recall, he won the Tschaikovsky Competition, and became world-famous.)   I remember his height - he was VERY TALL and thin, and had huge hands.   He could play an interval of a 12th (an octave plus a 5th) as easily as I could play an octave.    He was very complimentary to me and told me I should become a concert pianist, for certain.  
     One of my fondest memories of that time was my association with a folk-singing group of 3 men from Gonzaga, who all had very good voices, and were enrolled in the music school as well.   They eventually became very famous and known nationally as The Chad Mitchell Trio.    Chad was a senior, I recall, and he and I became friends through glee club.   He was starting this group, and asked me if I would assist him in rehearsing with the guys - play the music, and generally help them learn it.   The song "Blowin' in the Wind" (written by Bob Dylan) became one of their trademarks - (it was an anthem of the 60's, to be sure), and indeed they were the first professional group to record and present it nationally on the Ed Sullivan Show.    All of their songs were hits, and to some extent duplicated The Kingston Trio's Repertoire - but Chad and the guys (Mike Kobluk and Joe Frazier) had their own distinctive sound, sang completely on pitch, had great energy, and were every bit as good as the K. Trio, I thought.   Chad's voice was very clear and pleasing (he was the tenor and lead singer.)   They toured a great deal and made many recordings, of which I have several   When they came to NYC during my sojourn at the New York City Ballet, I attended their performances, and we all celebrated together.   Fun times indeed!    I was proud of the fact that I had been there on the ground floor, so to speak, of their rise to fame.    As I was writing the foregoing paragraph about them here at home in Seattle, I saw on the television that one of the PBS stations was presenting a retrospective of folk-singing groups,  with a clip of Judy Collins and Pete Seeger from the early times.     Then came Michele Phillips, who was a guest (present time) on the show and clips were shown of the Mamas and the Papas (remember Mama Cass and John Phillips?)    The next group to perform was The Chad Mitchell Trio!!   I nearly dropped my glass of wine, and watched with avid interest this attractive trio of men whom I had known when we were all quite young.   (make that VERY YOUNG)     They sounded great!   It was definitely a moment!     The program showed them as they are now, as well as a clip from an early performance.  
       It was around this time that my brother bought himself a used guitar for five dollars (he was proud of that fact) and began teaching himself to play the instrument.   He also attended Gonzaga (I was long gone by the time he enrolled), and studied voice with Lyle Moore, the choral director.   He told me that he learned much from Lyle, and after that started his own singing group (called 'The ChurchKeys' ).     I wonder where he got that idea?   (By the way, a churchkey is a beer bottle opening tool.)    If my memory serves me correctly, he came with me to observe  Chad and group rehearse in the music building.    On that particular day, the place was locked - and we couldn't get in.   But we found a window open on the lowest floor and crawled through it, then opened the door for the others.     
      At the end of my freshman year, I felt ready to tackle the next hurdle.   Incidentally, I had no problems adjusting to university life.   In fact, I preferred it to high school (much to the chagrin of certain people who were critical of my parents' decision to allow me to graduate a year early.)   For one thing, classes were held two or three times per week, and not every day as in high school - with the resultant daily homework.   So I found University life to be much less stressful - there was actually a little time in between classes and one was not so rushed.     The only classes which met every day were Music Theory, Ear Training, and Keyboard Harmony.    So the year ended for me on a triumphant note, so to speak, with nearly straight A's in all my coursework, and 30 credits towards a degree.   During that summer, I worked as a bank teller in the Washington Trust Bank, which I enjoyed very much.     Sometimes I worked a late shift posting entries on the bookkeeping machines.  (There were no computers yet!).     
      My leavetaking at the train station as I departed for Rochester, New York, and The Eastman School was quite emotional for all of us, especially my parents.   I thought my father was going to cry, and my brother was looking very sad.    We had gone through so much growing up together, that a strong bond existed between us.   I knew I would miss him, and vice versa.   (To this day we speak on the telephone often, even though he lives in South America part of the year.   Thank goodness for internet phone - so cost isn't a factor).    My emotions were running high - on one hand I would miss my family, and on the other hand,  I could hardly contain myself.     Indeed I looked forward with great anticipation to beginning a new life in a totally musical environment, with other like-minded musicians from all over the world.    The prospect was too thrilling for words!   And there was the added bonus of my being away from my rather domineering and overly protective mother.     I was only sorry that my younger brother, John, could not come with me - and I felt a little guilty leaving him at home alone.