First Impressions of a Freshman:

We came into chorus, freshmen, into Mr. Furman's rehearsal.  He would get so excited about his music... his head was just buzzing.  When he conducted "Hehlehlooyuh", one side of his body would do these wild gyrations, some kind of crazy island dance.  His index finger would swirl around in a strange way, his eyes go very wide, his head poured sweat.  He said that one half of his body was conducting in the style of Hawaii, the other, regular.  If you looked, you could see he was truly doing just that!  We didn't know what to make of this man!!  He would get so lost in the music.  Glasses would fly off, he didn't seem to notice.  And the way he would explain the articulation.... the "Heh" (first syllable).  One hand on his stomach demonstrating the push from the diaphragm, and he would be saying "Heh"... "Heh"... louder and stronger, each time taking the free hand and gesturing next to his cheek , pointing the path the sound should travel over the inside of the mouth, coming straight up from the diaphragm.

First rehearsal.  "Heh"... "Heh"..."HEH"....  We were exhausted!!!  It was lots of fun to make fun of him saying "HEH".  We said "HEH" a la James all the time, but we could do this.  We were all close.  I became the secretary of the chorus.  "Madame Secretary", he called me.  Each individual assuming the "Madame Secretary" role had her hands full...managing the chorus and managing Mr. Furman, too!  He never learned to drive.  His students took good care of him, and were glad to do it.  What a great friend.

..stories to come:

Music Ed and Lucretia Columbo
The Bee
The Fire Escape
Pizza and Incense
The Trinity
Ear Training
La Fiesta de la Posada
The Book
Turkey with Oyster Stuffing
Charpentier
Symphony of Psalms