New musical adventure: Taliesin West

I will explain more about this soon, but for now....

Today (and yesterday, for rehearsal) I had a new musical adventure:  I played piano as part of a memorial service celebration of life at Taliesin West.  Family and friends of Cornelia Brierly got up to speak about her life, how she inspired them and what she taught them.  She had the distinction of being involved in the designing of Taliesin West, I think, and lived and taught there her entire life.

It was largely a joyous occasion of remembrance, though there were understandably some tears among the people attending.  The most remarkable part of this whole experience, though, was the way her personality and person really came through in the stories and thoughts people shared.  I did not meet this remarkable lady, but the inspiration she had been for so many people...it was powerful.  I was an outsider in this group of people, but I still felt like I knew her, through their stories.  It was a wonderful return to perspective, seeing this group of people, so sincere in their love and strong in their memories of this remarkable lady.

I met a few people after the service, who shared stories of her and of Frank Lloyd Wright, Taliesin West, and the love for music held by so many there.  It was so obvious how many lives this lady impacted throughout her life.  It was a happy reminder that if you pour your life into people, wonderful things can happen.

Amidst the day-to-day, week-to-week graduate school grind, I needed the reminder that people are always the most important.