October 17, 1951 was the date of my first piano lesson, and in October of 2001 I gave a recital at Smith to celebrate the 50th anniversary of that momentous event in my life. I chose to play a solo recital on fortepiano, and I wanted to include many of the themes of my professional career. One of those themes was a devotion to the music of living composers, so I thought it fitting to commission a work for the occasion.
The very first piece I learned was a little song: “Robin in the cherry tree, Sing a pretty song to me. ” Jerry Noble (Clifton J. Noble, Jr.) happily obliged me with Robin Variations, a piece which allows me to show how far I’ve come in those 50 years.