I have just completed an enjoyable week trying to hone my skills as a patriarch. My daughter Sara and my grandson Ian came from Colorado for a visit and stayed with me. It has been six years since we lost my wife, and I have become comfortable living alone; adapting my widower routines to include house guests presented a handful of challenges, all well worth overcoming.
The specific rationale for their visit was to help us celebrate my grand-daughter Rachael’s high school graduation. Fortunately for me they came early enough that we could enjoy family time together, an opportunity that has been denied us during the pandemic. And they are indeed ideal house guests.
Ian has just turned twenty, that awkward age when one is too old to get away with the behavior permitted teenagers and too young to be considered an adult. He has just completed his Sophomore year at the University of Colorado where he is majoring in theater. Luckily, we were able to find two plays to attend while he and Sara were here.
First was an English drama, “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time”, at the Little Lake Theater. Based on a novel by Mark Haddon, it deals with a fifteen-year-old boy with Asperger Syndrome trying to cope with a dysfunctional family. I have been a big fan of the Little Lake Theater for many years and am delighted to report that it has survived the pandemic nicely and is functioning quite capably. I noted several additional plays on this year’s schedule that I will attempt to attend.
The other play was a Pittsburgh Public Theater production at the O’Reilly Theater in the Cultural District, August Wilson’s “Two Trains Running”. Set in 1969, it addresses the redevelopment of the Lower Hill District and the uprooting of low-income families from their homes and businesses. I consider Wilson to be an American treasure and have been pleased for years that he chose to write about Pittsburgh. We went to their opening night and were impressed by the cast’s polished performance. Discussing the play later, I think my (already positive) opinion of the production is continuing to improve.
It is interesting to compare the two theater programs, one primarily amateur, the other highly professional. I enjoyed both plays equally and think both levels of production have a place in our fine arts menu. If anything, I wish there were far more shows being presented. The high quality and popularity of current high school musicals and plays suggests that there is an audience for live theater in this area.
One day we met my daughter Elizabeth for lunch at the Pittsburgh Botanical Garden and then explored the trails there. This facility is continuing to expand and improve and certainly warrants a visit by anyone interested in the natural environment of Western Pennsylvania. I was disappointed in the “Heritage Homestead” portion of the facility however. In contradiction to information on their brochure there was very little to see “demonstrating human interaction with the land beginning in the late 1700s”, and the historic Walker-Ewing-Glass Log house was padlocked closed.
Another day I conducted a tour of the Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition in Bridgeville and am happy to report that the two aliens from Colorado were positively impressed with it. We also drove down to Chartiers Park and explored some of the trails there. I continue to believe a formal trail from Bridgeville up Chartiers Creek through the Wingfield Pines complex to Mayview would be a major asset.
Our week culminated in a Saturday celebration of Rachael’s graduation. It began with a graduation recital at the Grace Anglican Church in Sewickley. I am still not sure if such an affair is typical for serious musicians or if it was invented by Rachael’s two marvelous teachers – Irene Cheng (violin) and Kiki Barley (piano). It was indeed a memorable event, one that would be difficult to replicate.
The sanctuary in this church provided an ideal venue, and, at least to my ears, the acoustics were excellent. The audience of about forty-five persons included extended family members, Rachael’s high school friends, neighbors, Rachael’s musical colleagues and teachers, and one embarrassingly over-proud grandfather. Sara and Ian won the prize for coming the farthest; Six Finkes came from Kentucky, Washington DC, and Massachusetts; cousin Paul Oyler drove down from from Meadville and cousins Jonathan and Marsha Maddy from Franklin.
The recital began with a lovely “Romance for Piano and Violin” by Amy Beach, with Kiki Barley accompanying Rachael. She then performed two duets by Bela Bartok, accompanied by friends she met with the Three Rivers Young Persons Orchestra. Anna Spak accompanied her, on viola, with Duet 15; Odetta Sherk, violin, with Duet 16. Both of their performances were impressive.
Rachael then “brought down the house” with a beautiful rendition of Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Partita No. 1 in B Minor”. I continue to believe that all other classical music is inferior to Bach; seeing and hearing my grand-daughter perform this piece is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
She then carefully laid her violin on a bench, sat down at the piano, and proceeded to play the “Andante grazioso” from Mozart’s “Piano Sonata No. 11 in A Major” well enough to make one wonder if violin is indeed her primary instrument.
Kiki Barley accompanied her on two closing pieces – “Allegro” from Samuel Barber’s “Violin Concerto, Opus 14” and Fritz Kreisler’s “Liebesleid” – and Grandpa just shook his head and wondered if he had ever had a more inspiring musical experience.
We stood in line to congratulate Rachael on her incredible performance, then adjourned to Elizabeth’s house where Mike had magically created the perfect venue for a buffet picnic. What is so rare as a day in June? A day when my grand-daughter impressively completes this chapter in her life and turns the page to begin a new one.