Music has always been an important aspect of my life. My mother was a pianist who forwent a career as a concert pianist for a brief career as wife, homemaker and mother. My Uncle Robbie was a gifted musician.

When I moved to Washington, D.C. in 1977, I began attending the Kennedy Center. Most years I had a season subscription for either the NSO or the ballet season. In 1989, I added the Emerson String Quartet's annual concert series at the Smithsonian to my agenda, which I usually attend with my friend Martha Mednick.

My first concert of 2002 was January 26 at the Baird Auditorium and included Joseph Haydn's Quartet in G Minor, Op. 74 No 3 (1793); Bela Bartok's Quartet No. 5 (1934); and Felix Mendlessohn's Quartet in F minor, Op. 80 (1847).