Community Profile - Melanie Webster
Melanie Webster is a musician, teacher, and performer
living in Sebastopol. She moved here to attend college and has
stayed here ever since. She has two great kids, two cats, too many
flowers, and too many weeds to pull. She dreams of performing a
string quartet in a castle overlooking Salzburg, Austria.
Birthplace:
Berkeley, California
Who's the most insightful person you know (be it
real or fictional), and why? Dr. Shinichi Suzuki, for his
superlative insights on teaching violin.
What's your
favorite book? "Clara" - a fictional biography of
Clara Schumann's struggle for excellence as a performing pianist, mother,
and wife of composer Robert Schumann.
What's your
favorite movie? "The Red Violin"
What's
your favorite food? Mozart chocolates, direct from Austria.
What's
your fondest memory? Visiting Stradivarius' violin workshop
in Cremona on my birthday.
What's your biggest pet
peeve? Violas that won't keep time.
What
renowned person would you choose to be stranded with on a desert island,
and why? Itzhak Perlman, if he brought along his violin and
his jokes.
What's the best thing anyone has ever
given you (not necessarily a material thing)? A fabulous
Sartory violin bow.
If you could possess
any super power, what would you choose to have, and why?
Super-choice: To perform Paganini's 1st Violin Concerto with the San
Francisco Symphony - with only one mistake.
What 4
renowned people who've ever lived would you invite for dinner (note: any
members of your family are already invited)? Beethoven,
Brahms, Midori - and Ringo Starr.
What's the best
thing about life? A string quartet with the right stuff -
and players.
Sonoma West Times & News, August 31st, 2006
____________________________________________________
"Children
are seedlings.
Unless the
seedlings are cared for,
beautiful
flowers cannot be expected."
