The Late Starters Orchestra (22 page)

Acknowledgments

My greatest thanks goes to the men and women who, over the years, have taught me to play cello, in particular Heinrich Joachim, Noah Hoffeld, Laura Usiskin, and Suzanne Saba Hughes. Noah was especially helpful in putting this book together by providing valuable feedback as well as the musical notations that adorn the final chapter.

Several friends read the manuscript at various points and I would like to thank them for their guidance and input. These include Dr. Isaac Herschkopf, Carolyn Starman Hessel, Samuel G. Freedman, Jack Schwartz, and Rabbi Elie Spitz. I also got my family involved in this project, and I would like to thank my cousins Debra Kolitz and Deb Kram, and my children, Adam, Emma, and Judah. My most dedicated and helpful reader was my wife, Shira, who read through several iterations of this book and encouraged me at every turn. While I welcomed everyone's contributions, all the shortcomings of this book are mine and mine alone.

I would like to thank the members, conductors, and administrators of the various orchestras that I joined over the years for allowing me to play with them and for talking with me about what the music means to them. The best part of writing this book was doing those interviews. My thanks to the InterSchool Orchestras of New York, the Downtown Symphony, the East London Late Starters Orchestra, and the New York Late-Starters String Orchestra.

I am grateful to Eric Hanson for the enchanting drawings that grace these pages. Finally, I want to thank my editor, Amy Gash—ever-positive, patient, and inspiring—and the whole team at Algonquin.

Published by

Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill

Post Office Box 2225

Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27515-2225

a division of

Workman Publishing

225 Varick Street

New York, New York 10014

© 2014 by Ari L. Goldman. All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America.

Published simultaneously in Canada by Thomas Allen & Son Limited.

Design by Anne Winslow.

Art direction by Laura Williams.

Illustrations by Eric Hanson.

Portions of part 3 were previously published, in slightly different form, in Ari L. Goldman, “Big Cello, Little Cello,”
New York Times,
June 8, 2008.

Although this book depicts real events, some names have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals, and some portions of the narrative timeline have been condensed for simplicity.

eISBN 978-1-56512-400-6