Intimate Conversations: Face to Face with Matchless Musicians crafts a mosaic of musical insight, capturing the personal journeys, philosophies, and artistic wisdom of composers, conductors, instrumentalists, and vocalists. Why was this an important book for you to write?

It was important to write this book to capture and convey that “mosaic” so generously stated in the question, to my readers to draw them into the world of classical music to experience its joy and enhancement of life to mitigate the genre’s current loss of audience.

I hope that it will find a home in musical and regular libraries, including the Library of Congress, musical, historical, and other associations, symphony orchestras, museums, and other appropriate institutions. I might also add that the nature of the book makes it not only one to be read for pleasure, but also appropriate as a course or reference work to be used as a teaching tool in college and earlier, not only focused on music directly, but also as music and musicians relate to the values of Western culture. To that end, I refer to its general index, easily navigable to all the book’s topics, by all academics whether teachers, students, or researchers.

What were some ideas it was important for you to share in this book?

It was my goal in this book to…

Dispel the notion that to approach and listen to classical music is difficult.    

Show that classical musicians are folks with the same issues and problems as the rest of us, and are friendly and open to sharing their experiences with us.  

Inspire the idea that classical music, and all music really, is the most mysterious and magical of the arts having the ability to reach so deep into our hearts and souls that it can be said music is not simply about life, but is life itself.

Demonstrate that one can accomplish writing a serious book on an important subject as a nonagenarian, and to inspire other oldsters to persist in accomplishing their goals, whatever they may be, at any age, and whenever they arise.

Did you find anything in your research of this book that surprised you?  

I was surprised that it seems there is no other book like this book, written by a person with nil music education conversing intimately with accomplished musicians about their lives from the prosaic to the profound, and their art in non-technical language understandable to all. I have been further surprised by the total approbation in the many reviews of this book by the lay and professional reviewers alike. I thought it was a good book, but what a wonderful surprise to be told it is much more than that!

What is one thing that you hope readers take away from Intimate Conversations?  

I hope readers will be moved to listen to music with a reinvigorated appreciation of its power to change their lives for the good, and to provide beautiful sound to them to alleviate the discordant emotions aroused in us in these troubled times.

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