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Wednesday, August 04, 2010

For My DC Readers, The Goldenberg Duo - A Musical Treat

The world works in mysterious ways* and the internet makes it seem more so. There's a concert in DC on August 8, 2010 - the 36th anniversary of Richard Nixon's resignation**:
William Goldenberg, Distinguished Professor of Piano at NIU, and his sister, Susan Goldenberg, violinist in the Kansas City Symphony, have performed as the Goldenberg Duo for 30 years at various universities and performing arts series. On August 8, the Duo will perform at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C. as part of that institution's ongoing performing arts series.
This comes from The Arts@NIU (Northern Illinois University) website, which probably explains why William Goldenberg, who is a professor there, is highlighted and not his sister, who is not a professor there.  So I'll highlight her here. 

So, what's the mysterious way here?  Well, I never heard of that website until today when someone got to my blog from that NIU post on the concert. At the very end it says:
An excellent review of a 2009 concert by the Duo may be found here.
Clicking on the 'here' above will get you to an April 2009 post I did of one of their Anchorage concerts.  I would distinguish between an 'excellent review' and a 'positive review.'  Excellent review refers to the quality of the review in my mind and while it is pretty good - mainly because of a perfect Richard Musil quote I had just read - I don't think NIU would have linked if it hadn't been positive about the music.   There's also a video from my little Canon Powershot which will give you a sense of the music. 

Anyway, I'd urge my DC readers to consider attending this concert on Sunday.  The Duo have a real musical connection and it should be fantastic.  From the Museum's site:
Steinway Series (Aug 8, 3pm)
Susan Goldenberg, violinist with the Kansas City Symphony, and William Goldenberg, distinguished professor of piano at Northern Illinois University, present an eclectic program including works by Frank Bridge, Samuel Barber, Claude Debussy, and Ludwig van Beethoven.
And it's free!  And air conditioned. 


*I realized as I was typing it that the opening sentence starts with a cliche, and so I thought I should at least find its origin.  Googling only got me uses of it online by other people.  Two quotation sites gave me:

Search Results for “World Works in Mysterious Ways”
No documents match the query.

Methinks that 'mysterious ways' simply means 'ways we don't understand.'  Probability explains a lot of 'mysterious ways' - after all, even though the odds of winning the lottery might be ten million to one, at least one person will buy a winning ticket.  And the power of google increases the odds people will make obscure connections they never would have made in the past.   


**I'd also note that the reason I know the exact date Nixon resigned is that my son was born two days before.  So, if you know him,  wish him a happy birthday Friday. 


Oh yes, one more connection.  I spent two summers at NIU in DeKalb.  That's where my Peace Corps training was. 

2 comments:

  1. Steve, I believe the quote is 'the lord (of god) works in mysterious ways'. May explain the lack of information. For this particular quotation, the world has little to do with it. Or so they seem to think.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Jay. That does lead to discussions of the origins. Not from the Bible, though several point to a William Cowper hymn:

    God moves in a mysterious way
    his wonders to perform;
    He plants his footsteps in the sea,
    and rides upon the storm.

    A Baptist website on Phantom Bible Verses mentions this line, plus others like, "God helps those who help themselves" and "To thine own self be true."

    ReplyDelete

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