Tomoko personally knew Adolph Baller
and Yehudi Menuhin, who exemplify different approaches to early talent. As a
piano teacher, Tomoko does not like the idea of child proteges; “They may have
technical skill, but not the experience.” She also feels for the child; “They
are controlled by adults who are focusing on money, and they throw out the
child when he is burned out.”
Adolph Baller was born July 30,
1909, in Brody (now in western Ukraine). At age eight he was sent to Vienna to
study the piano, and he debuted with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra at age
thirteen. In 1938 the Nazis beat him up because he was a Jew, and crushed his
hands when they realized that he was a pianist. He and his fiancee escaped to
Budapest, and immigrated to the States. His hands healed, and he restarted his
performance career, included forming the Alma Trio with Gabor Rejto and Roman
Totenberg. He also taught at Stanford, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music,
and Dominican College.
Yehudi
Menuhin was born April 22, 1916, in New York City. He started violin instruction
at age four, and was a solo violinist with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra
at age seven. He played in Carnegie Hall at age 11, and had his first concerto
recording at age 15, in London. As a young adult he seemed to stall in his
musical growth, being protected from everyday life. That changed.
In the
early years of World War II Baller played for a New York radio station, where
he met Menuhin. Together they performed for U.S. troops around the world,
including in the Aleutian Islands. Experiencing the life of men his age and
younger in army bases opened Menuhin's world, and gave him more self-assurance.
The two Jewish musicians continued
to tour together after the war, and Tomoko met them when she studied with
Adolph Baller at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Baller was impressed
with her playing, and asked if she would serve as a page-turner for his own
performance; there she also met Menuhin. Not only did Tomoko have the
opportunity to see the back stage of world-reknown performers, but she was able
to earn money as a page-turner to help pay for her own studies at the
Conservatory. And her experiences with these two grand names in music informed
her own piano teaching.
