Ever think about if you could know everything about something what would that be?

I would love to know everything there is to know about music. To me, music is the answer no matter what the question.

Every mood, every emotion, every memory can relate to music. You hear a tune and you can immediately place yourself in the moment you first heard it. You can think of all of the different stages of your life and how that particular piece of music resonates with you.

Music has been a constant presence in my life. There was always music playing in our house. I was drawn to all kinds of music and fortunately for me my parents introduced us to a wide selection of music. Big band standards were always there- Vaughn Monroe, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme, Robert Goulet and I can still remember my dad bringing home the first Elvis Presley album!! In addition to all of that, my parents also enjoyed opera and the love of that continues for me now. My first opera was in the early 60’s The Met’s La Sonnambula. Wow…I thought I was such a sophisticate! I can even remember the outfit I wore…It was a pant suit with a matching knee length coat…Hilary Clinton would have been envious!!

Between 1962 and 1966 Lincoln Center came into being.  I am a regular visitor to this day. I had the most outrageous honor of being given a Lincoln Center Student Award. I think it was in 1966. It consisted of tickets to a variety of events at Lincoln Center. A good part of the fun was traveling into NYC on the train with Mike Masone and John Savage (back in the day he was John Youngs to all of us at POBHS). I could understand how both Mike (I believe he was a clarinet player) and John (a vocalist) were chosen, but I just lucked out being the one who was active in student government and chorus!! Speaking of John…at our high school no one would ever be ale to forget his rendition of “Climb Every Mountain”-I could probably start to cry just thinking back to him singing that at graduation.

As I age, my taste in music remains eclectic. I love rock as well as popular music and I still cry at every opera that my friend Julie and I have attended over the years. I have introduced my husband Tom to opera and he has enjoyed it.  Many of the tunes are familiar to everyone, he tells me, because we all grew up hearing them as background music on cartoons!! It is true!! My favorite is anything Puccini has ever done…as ELO says in Rockaria, “…she loves the way Puccini lays down a tune…” That’s me.

I have been lucky to have musicians in my life who afford me opportunities to experience a lot of different things. My friend Al Regni is a fantastic and well known sax player. He has played with the best from Broadway to the New York Philharmonic and the National Symphony and scores of other things. Al’s daughter Marissa is a violinist with the National Symphony Orchestra. My niece, Alison Crossley ( I thank my first husband for sharing his family with me!) is an up and coming flutist. It is so wonderful keeping up with their careers and being able to share in some wonderful moments.

Music is a universal language…it affects a person’s blood pressure and instills calmness. For those with dementia is has even been studied how it opens up the arteries increasing the blood flow and adds to one’s well being. I often feel the need to sing which opens up your chakras!!

OK…back to how does this relate to fashion….Have you ever seen a fashion show that would be presented without music? I rest my case.