JAVS Spring 2007

ANOTHER STORY WORTH l=HE TELLING

by Patricia Heller

Tom said, "leave it, I may play later."

ln November of2006 we learned of the death ofa dear friend and col league. Tom Heimberg was an active violist in the San Francisco Bay Area for the past forty-five years, and our musical community has reaped many rewards from sharingTom's unique sense oflife. We all have rea son to thank him for lessons ofone kind or another, among which were his absolute delight in being alive and his penchant ro search for a bet ter solution, regardless of the prob lem. These lessons were the threads woven throughout our experiences with him, as a colleague, manager, teacher, and fair-minded negotiaror; as a friend, StOryteller, and champi on ofour traditions. always infused with the joy he found inherent in music. Tom actively promoted anything relat ed to die Bratschen, even extend ing to practicing, a subject not always embraced with open arms by all musicians. Many of us enjoyed his workshops on The Art of Practice, where he shared this positive approach. That he rel ished every moment spent coax ing sound from his beloved viola is reflected in a story his wife Rosalyn tells of one ofhis last days, when she was straightening up the room. She reached to move the viola from the bed, and He loved the viola dearly, and his approach to his instrument was

Tom was a valued comrade in the San Francisco Opera Orchestra's viola section. The pleas ure he found in dis covering a more elegant fingering, or creating a more ergonomically bal anced shoulder rest touched everyone around him. These efforrs ar rimes seemed quixotic to those of us ourside the workings of his creative impulse, as

Photo by jill Niennan. Courtesy oftbe Estate ofTom

Heimberg. when - more than 40 years inro a successful orchestral career - he excitedly shared yet another way to play the opening phrase ofThe Marriage of Figaro. His glee may have seemed inexplicable to his tired colleagues, bur his own enjoyment of the new solution was genuine and infectious. Tom was the designated backstage driver at the San Francisco Opera whenever a viola d 'amore was called for, and the Humming Chorus from Madama Butterfly will always carry a special poignancy for those of us who heard Tom play it. As did so many of his explorations, these beautiful performances inspired

another of his passions, one for words and language. He wrote an article Puccini's Viola of Love along with many other musical commen taries. His writings were diverse, and included tributes tO colleagues, musical reviews, rips on negotiating techniques, audition preparation, and effective practice methods. He was inrellecrually gifted and enjoyed focusing his philosophical micro scope on the complexities and marvels of the life of an orchestral musician. His love of words shone in any chance encounter, where his pleasure with and mastery of the English language captivated his audience on a variety of sub jeers, often prefaced with "that's another story worth the telling. "

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