My Mother's grandmother Maggie taught herself how to play the popular tunes of the day on the piano, by ear. Swing, Broadway hits, Ragtime, the Foxtrot etc. She married Norman and they had three girls, who played piano, violin, and sang together. I still have sheet music that belonged to my grandmother Margaret who played piano and cello, and her sisters Lily and Evelyn who played violin

Margaret was very disciplined and become an accomplished pianist. Every Sunday she played organ at 3 different churches. Margaret and Jack's daughter, my mother Arlene, was very talented at a young age. She had perfect pitch and at the age of 3 was trying to play her father's violin. Recognizing their daughter's talent and drive, my grandparents managed to order a 1/4 size violin from the USA, which took months to arrive. Arlene become very accomplished very quickly. Her younger brother learned the cello, and the family played trios together. It was generally know in town that after church, people were welcome to play chamber music at my grandparents' house. Grandma had a large sheet music collection, and she was very innovative about organizing friends to play chamber music


My mother Arlene went to the University of Toronto. She was a great talent, with unconventional technique at first, because of growing up in a small Ontario town. She worked hard and won competitions. She met my father Imre, a clarinetist who had 2 years prior escaped from Hungary. They married and went to Yale University, where they got full scholarships to get their Masters degrees.

I made a surprise appearance during their graduation year. My brother was born 4 years later, as my parents were teaching at a college in South Carolina.