tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5765346048101393801.comments2015-01-16T20:42:29.060-08:00Signature for LifeUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5765346048101393801.post-77427247133394282632015-01-16T20:42:29.060-08:002015-01-16T20:42:29.060-08:00Jan Popper was my Music Appreciation instructor at...Jan Popper was my Music Appreciation instructor at UCLA in 1960 (or so). In the early '80s, I attended a concert at Loyola University of one of his compositions. I ran across this article after hearing a cello concerto by David Popper, a late 19th, early 20th century composer born in the kingdom of Bohemia and looking him up. I wonder if their is a familial connection, since Jan Popper also came from Czechoslovakia.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00805291987878499567noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5765346048101393801.post-61890712752623671222014-01-04T14:39:04.789-08:002014-01-04T14:39:04.789-08:00From the moment I entered this world, music has pl...From the moment I entered this world, music has played an integral role in my life. My involvement with music has changed through the years, and its meaning has evolved through time. <br /><br />The numerous years I spent studying under Ms. Hagiwara are ones I hold dear to my heart, ones that are characterized by hardship, passion, dedication, but most of all love. <br /><br />I realize now that music is love. For sharing is at the heart of the spirit of music, music is a means for one to convey emotions in its pure form to others. And in that way, emotions cannot be removed from the music. <br /><br />Since leaving the San Francisco Bay Area and having ventured off to the east coast and now Texas, I have encountered the many trials and tribulations a young individual commonly experiences when trying to find himself in this seemingly large world. Yet through it all, music has stood by my side. You see, music is a great listener and a great speaker, and thus a dear friend to me. <br /><br />When news that my grandfather had passed reached me, I was devastated to say the least. But since that time, I have had the opportunity to ponder the meaning and significance of the event in the context of my life. <br /><br />And after getting through all the sadness and pain associated with my loss of him, which never fully goes away, I realized the beauty of the song that was his life, a song that brought music into my mother’s life and thus mine as well, a song that cried pain from the terrors of war, and a song that displayed love for all the people in it. <br /><br />My grandfather may have left this world, but his life continues on in the song he left in my heart. <br /><br />Every day Ms. Hagiwara teaches the language of music to young individuals, another life is touched by love and compassion. I am blessed to have felt loved by music and every one who has brought it into my life, and in celebration of its spirit, I know I will continue to share it with those around me and with those to come. <br /><br />- Clifford YuCliffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06741076491235052184noreply@blogger.com