Romanian days

Oct. 10-Hi from Cluj, Romania. Thanks to Herr Bach, who wrote a little fugue 300 years ago that I heard being played by Ionut Vacar, a 21.5-year old music student here in June, I am now staying in his (Ionut's, not Johann's) family's apartment for a few days. HIs violin teacher dad took me to the Music Academy "Gheorge Dima" here this morning, where I met Adrian Pop, the director (himself a gifted composer a month older than I, who complains, as music administrators in the US do, of having no time to compose in the face of voluminous paper work). He generously offered to sandwich me between the renowned Transilvanian Quartet's Brahms program tonight and a piano recital by a Romanian virtuoso far more respectable than I on Wednesday. So on the eve of my 58th birthday I will be at the Steinway to present a silent film program to the public, and maybe throw in some Beatles songs in the styles of various composers, which Pop found an entertaining idea.

I'm in the kitchen now, with delicious smells coming from the stove where Lydia is fussing, and Johnny (Ionut) is working on a poster and spreading the news on Facebook; we'll see who shows up on short notice. Oddly enough, last week some local jazz guys did the Murnau film TABU that Jo and I had done in Staten Island two years ago, and it seems likely that we will be invited to perform here in May as part of the Transilvanian Film Festival, one of the biggest in this part of Europe, in conjunction with the Pordenone festival from which I have just [escaped, collapsed, insert your verb of choice]. More news as it happens. The Vacar family are fantastic, I feel so fortunate to have met them. The two kids stayed with us in July and we know this will be a longterm friendship. Thanks, Sebastian! You did it again!