Mary and Nathan felt that music was the gateway to becoming a cultured American. I actually have somewhere hidden in my treasures a photograph from the “old” country of a distance relative holding a violin in his hands on the fields of Russia – but don’t ask me who he is – it’s just an interesting link from the past.
Along the line, someone in Chelsea, Massachusetts where Nathan and Mary settled, gave Bob a violin, and their lives were changed forever. He took to it like a baby to milk, and everything flowed from that. He shared that violin with Cela his sister. And then someone gave Ralph and Harold an oboe which they shared because they couldn’t afford two oboes! Then, Leo saw how satisfying and exciting this was, so the family scraped enough money [together] to rent him a trumpet. Oh, how he adored the sound and he never put it down after that. And then, my mother was given a cello to join in. That was the story – no one ever paid because they were so brilliant. Now, the story goes that these six little children were living their lives quite poor in Chelsea. At this time, the Curtis Institute of Music had become the “Harvard” of music education. Curtis was established by Mary Louise Curtis Bok – of the Curtis Publishing Company. She married Bok, of the Harvard University family, and together they established the Curtis Institute of Music.
The story continues that one day Efrem Zimbalist, the great violinist who was on the Board of Directors of Curtis, heard about this amazingly talented family. Curtis Institute did, and still does, only accept the brightest and most brilliant of musicians – and it’s all FREE! The story continues that one day, he took the train to Chelsea and sought out this “phenom” of a family. He approached my grandmother with a deal she couldn’t refuse: “If you give me your children, I will see to it that they never have to pay for music lessons again, and we’ll provide free room and board.” To that offer, my little grandmother simply opened her eyes wide and responded, “DA!” And so they traveled to Philadelphia and their careers took off.
Want to read the whole thing? You know you do!
