Happy Birthday Bill!

If you could have anything for your 97^th birthday, what would it be?

Would it occur to any of your family or friends to pull together a world-class orchestra, conductor, soprano, clarinetist, and non-profit beneficiary? Would the entire audience be motivated to sing “Happy Birthday” to you at the end? Alright, maybe you wouldn’t wish for the audience to break into song just for you.

Last night, along with many hundreds of others, I attended such a concert!  It was really something to blog about in my opinion.

Bill Scheide turned 97 on Mozart’s birthday.  Judy Scheide, with a little help from friends, pulled off this most wonderful birthday event for her husband.  In his honor, the Zurich Chamber Orchestra played the following program: 

• Mozart      Overture to “Cosi fan tutte”
• Mozart      “Mia speranza adorata” K. 416, Jihye Son, soprano
• Mozart      “No, no, che non sei capace” K.419, Jihye Son, soprano
• Mozart      Clarinet Concerto K.622, Dmitri Ashkenazy, clarinet
• Mozart       Symphony No. 35 “Haffner”

Who benefited? Everyone who was there! It was a performance (on par with what one would expect from Lincoln Center or The Konzerthaus in Vienna), and the Princeton Hospital.  Really, the Princeton Hospital?

I think the government should pay everyone’s health care, period.  Why pay to attend a benefit for any hospital? And yet, it seems I am in the minority with that opinion. So, I will just hope the Princeton Hospital turns out to be a hospital that will hug me gently and kiss my head when I finally do lose my cotton-picking mind from arguing about why helping the “have-nots” matters most to me.

The Scheide’s are known for their generosity to cultural enrichment, so I will cut them a break. I spent my 20’s working for painters and sculptors - say no more! As a newcomer to Princeton ten years ago, the first time I heard the name Scheide, of course I asked, “…and why are THEY so important”?  I was met with: “You don’t KNOW”?  By then, I had abandoned my dreams to make a living as an artist; I’d secured a real job on Wall Street. I was a cog in the wheel of decision support software. I walked away from the dot-com bubble and the Y2K cash cow. I was too old, too tired, and too street smart, thank you very much anyway.

At long last, I recognize the complications of wealth. I no longer envy the wealthy, though I know money could solve a great many problems!  I dwelled on this during Symphony No. 35 “Haffner”, deciding to let the music solve my struggles of the day; those struggles that money can’t solve – you know those, I’m sure. I reflected on music as composure. Classical music is used to teach us composition. Then, we have Mozart. I think Mozart speaks of maintaining one’s composure in the midst of utter turmoil and devastation. Mozart teaches us to keep it together, through thick and thin.

About the Author

Maggie Rose

Maggie Rose lives in Princeton, NJ.  She works as a database systems analyst with a special interest in the effects of data visualization on emotional intelligence. She is also Webmaster for AllPrinceton.com.  She is a member of the Religious Society of Friends, loves to help artistic kids with math, cherishes wild creatures and plants, and worries constantly about the future of our planet.