Dear Friends,
The college whirlwind is over! Carlyn was accepted for admission to Cleveland Institute of Music where she will continue her work with the cello. She’s an accomplished cellist and is excited to be going to CIM – it’s a leading international conservatory – 80% of The Institute’s alumni perform in major national and international orchestras and opera companies and hold prominent teaching positions around the world. Thirty-eight members of The Cleveland Orchestra are graduates of CIM.
Case Western Reserve University allows CIM students to take advantage of an outstanding liberal arts education, so Carlyn will be able to combine her academic work with her ongoing music work. We’re pleased, to say the least. The college application/auditions process is strenuous and the waiting-to-hear period is nerve-wracking. Whew!
You’ll have the opportunity to hear Carlyn perform at the church on Sunday afternoon, May 31, at 4 p.m. She will be joined by a member of her long-time trio, Emily Watkins, in a benefit concert to raise money for medical expenses for Nicholas Gerbino, grandson of long-time church member Betty Cohen.
Nicholas is a fifteen-year old high school freshman who was diagnosed in January with Ewing’s sarcoma, a very rare bone cancer. His father, Matt, recently retired from the U.S. Army, has been battling stage-four non Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
In addition to the physical struggle and the emotional strain, the financial impact on the family is enormous. Insurance helps, of course, but it doesn’t cover costs associated with travel to New York City’s Sloan-Kettering Cancer center where Nicholas is undergoing aggressive chemotherapy every three weeks. The family lives in up-state New York. This regimen is expected to take at least a year, and will be followed up with radiation treatment. It’s a long, expensive process.
I first met Nicholas and his older bother Christopher some years ago, when they were toddlers. When Betty told me about Nick’s illness and the financial crisis I went home and told Carlyn and Lory, and the idea of a benefit concert seemed natural.
In addition to Carlyn and Emily, on cello and piano, Ed Thompson will join with Dr. Richard Epstein and his musical colleagues on woodwinds, and Westport’s well-known artist, author and orator, Tracy Sugarman will speak on friendship – an appropriate topic for this event.
There will be a suggested admission of $15 for adults and $5 for children, but we’re hoping for generous donations ‘above and beyond.’
Betty and her family are very appreciative and I’m glad Carlyn and Emily are able to play together again at our church, as each of them prepares to go off to college very soon.
In case you’re not able to attend the concert you might consider donating to the fund for Nicholas, making a check payable to the church with a notation: Nicholas Gerbino Fund. Many thanks. I look forward to seeing you again, soon. I hope you are well.
Yours,
Frank
