“Happy is the man who finds a true friend, and far happier is he who finds that true friend in his wife.” —Franz Schubert

Aside from my own, I had never attended a wedding of any kind during my entire lifetime. After all these years, on July 7^th, I found myself at the Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, California, watching, and crying a little, as my son married his fiancée and companion, Bridget Laifman. About one hundred people attended the ceremony, followed by a joyous celebration of the union during the reception and dinner.

Daniel and Bridget have been together for almost four years, and the Laifmans, who live in the valley area, have been exceptionally gracious in their acceptance of Daniel throughout the duration of their courtship. Mostly from afar, I have watched the two of them grow into a wonderful couple, balancing one another in their respective lives.

“I actually think that the job of chief conductor is becoming obsolete. The famous names from the past, Willem Mengelberg and Eduard van Beinum, spent a lot of time in Amsterdam. These days chefs constantly travel from one orchestra to another.”

Those words come from the soon-to-retire Bernard Haitink. Boy, does he have it right. After a full season of simply being a guest conductor, I believe that the musical landscape has changed significantly, and one of those alterations has to do with the perceived necessity of having a music director. I will get to this topic a bit later in this piece, but first, there was one week of work left before the summer break.

Life with fewer responsibilities. It has been a long time coming, but I have a feeling that new challenges await. In the meantime, hitting the guest circuit has been a most refreshing change for me.

Not that there are not tasks to be accomplished as well as other goals to be achieved. After the heart procedure, I heard one thing loud and clear: lower stress. For this first season, after more than 40 years as the person in charge, I wound up working as hard as usual but felt freer to make music at a different level. No longer did I worry about making so many decisions that might impact others in either a positive or negative way. Just leading rehearsals and concerts seemed like plenty to do, and now I could do it in a more focused way.

This April was a month like no other, similar to a rollercoaster ride of emotion, conflict and elation.

On Easter Sunday, Cindy’s mother passed away. At age 89, Jackie was a bundle of energy. Over the past few years, that vitality began to dwindle. Although she remained strong in mind, her body was giving way to infirmities. Ultimately, she decided to forgo her medications, preferring to let nature do its thing and spare her from the inability to be a physically functioning presence in her home.