This day is special: My article Experiments of a Chamber Music Coach on the program I inaugurated at Mannes in 1975 and coordinated until 2007 is in the Nov/Dec. issue of Chamber Music, the magazine of Chamber Music America. In it I describe the program's philosophy and structure -- my methods which were kept under-the-radar for more than 30 years.

The germ of it all is hidden away 5 paragraphs from the end: "It became increasingly clear that the students who trusted their own ears played with greater confidence and satisfaction. There was no way any of them (or us coaches) could play like the Amadeus Quartet: not many Americans equate music with survival, though I know that persons with disability or chronic illness often do." The program would never have happened if my own disability and chronic illness had not precluded a professional performing career.

I do equate music with health and joy, both synonyms for survival.