JAVS Fall 2023

“About six years ago, I played in a reunion concert for Dr. Dalton’s students at Viola Day at the University of Utah. This was October of 2016. I was nine months pregnant with our baby boy/girl twins and I was scheduled to play a solo at that concert. I remember it hurt to walk on the stage, my feet were so swollen, and dealing with shortness of breath also made it difficult to play. After the concert, Dr. Dalton came up to me, put his hand on my shoulder and said, ‘You were relieved—we were all relieved—that you got through that and didn’t go into labor. Good luck!’” -Caryn Jackson Bradley, student 2005-2011 “During a trip to Provo many years ago, David generously agreed to meet with me for a short private lesson. I don’t remember the particulars, except that he had nice things to say about my tone, but I do recall he was very patient and extremely pleasant to work with. Having read and reread his book with Primrose, I felt like I was in the presence of a legend.” -Les Jacobson

“David’s great achievement is that he created an ecosystem for violists, where he connected us to each other through societies, congresses, and journals. He understood his friends in the viola community and their strengths; Zeyringer for collecting music, Riley for codifying history. He needed their collective gifts for creating PIVA. Through PIVA, he helped violists connect to our past and understand we have a rich history and repertoire. Violists will best honor David’s legacy if we have the vision to continue to gather our repertoire, our history, understand it, and share it with each other. There is a photograph of Ysäye in PIVA with an inscription to Primrose, complete with a bow exercise, still clearly visible in the sepia ink. I remember David teaching me this exercise to help me with my string crossings, but the connection to where the exercise had come from wasn’t pointed out at the time. When I saw the same exercise in the photo, it dawned on me how our oral tradition goes back generations. Sometimes we teach as we have been taught and don’t realize how far that information has come; it is a legacy.” -Claudine Bigelow, DMA, student 1987-1993 is holding a map, as I was planning a trip to Zion after the concert, and he was helping me map my route!! Such generous people. He will be sorely missed.” -Sheila Browne “Here is [a] photo I took at the Dalton's house in 2016 when I was invited to be the Primrose Memorial Recitalist. David

David Dalton and Claudia Bigelow at PIVA. Photo courtesy of Sheila Browne.

Journal of the American Viola Society / Vol. 39, No. 2, Fall 2023

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