I have not been in touch with Xiao-Fu for decades, but I hope he will not mind being identified as the inspiration behind the little poem I discussed here, which was published today in Right Hand Pointing and can be read there. Many thanks to Editor Dale Wisely and team for that. Though Xiao-Fu is much older now (I seem to be as well), I think you can see and hear why I thought he was “a little luminous.” I remember him as a very kind person who lived to do justice to great music and to help others do the same. In his spare time he made pots (like the one shown below), went fishing, and cooked wonderful wontons.
Here is a quote from his professional bio:
Xiao-Fu Zhou, a Curtis trained violinist and violist, once acclaimed by New York Times as “a master of his instrument and a poet”. Listening to Xiaofu Zhou playing, wrote one eminent critic in the Strad Magazine, “reminded me of the thrill I experienced 40 years ago when David Oistrakh played this sonata at his first Carnegie Hall recital.”
In other news, my flash about the closeted Darwinist, “‘Difficulties on Theory,'” has been reprinted in a compendium edition of recent issues of cc&d Magazine called What Lies on the Other Side. So that’s nice. I’ll pick up a copy soon.
Word Music 