JAVS Spring 2007

One ofTom's favorite challenges was po ed by inconvenienc orches tra pares. If we were ro read a new work char had a clumsy page turn , we could be sure that by rhe next rehearsal there would be an ele gant solution -- either a photo copy of the relevant measures con veniendy inserted, or a few meas ures handwritten and annotated. And Tom was never personally invested in his ideas. If, as was often che case, his solution didn't meer another violist's personal preference, he wasn't offended if we reverted co rhe original, nor was he hesicanr ro offer rhe next solution char occurred ro him. He was always, humbly, one of our fellow musicians, and referred to the orchestras he played with as his "hometowns."

Our annual outdoor concerts in Golden Gate Park offered another opportunity for Tom ro cweak the equipment, and one particular contraption would have elicited a chuckle from Rube Goldberg. Tom encouraged us ro use a device char allows for page turns on a windy stage wirhour che need for massive cloches-pinning. A description of che fishing line hung with aluminum 0-rings would leave the reader baffled, bur anyone who has successfully attached one to a stand on a windy stage will arrest ro irs inge nuity. He wrote in Senza Sordino about another solution ro chis problem, crowing "rubber bands make great wind clips!" and going on ro describe in derail how best ro pur these tools to work.

His quest "ro make playing easier and more informed" led him ro endless experimentation. Many of us benefitted from his advice on how to customize our equipment, as he often discovered new mate rial char solved a slippery shoulder pad, or an uncomfortable chin rest; or he would bring in a new mute that would make us laugh. His viola wore a leather "falcon's hood" over the scroll as protection against pit collisions that was an example of the reverence in which he held the tools of his craft. He carefully cuscomized his Fiorini's fingerboard, adding a piece of ebony in front of the nut, thereby shortening the string length by half an inch. This unusual experi ment carne with a wirty defense: "If I save l/64ch of an inch on

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