A slide show dedicated to my mother, whose love of music, and her love, were her legacies to me.

1. Portrait of the artist as a
young music lover
by Liz Craig

2. It all began
before I was
born.
My mother, a professionally
trained soprano, sang to me
when I was just a germ
of a person.

3. She liked to play
Helen Traubel
records.
My dad, on the other hand,
preferred jazzy Frankie Carle.
The sounds of one or the
other often lulled me to sleep
when I was little.

4. Both my
parents were
musicians.
My mother sang popular
romantic songs on the
St. Louis University radio
station every week -- like
“L’amour, Toujours L’Amour.”

5. My dad
played drums.
At Mizzou, he was a member
of the very hep Sunset
Terrace Orchestra. Gordon
Jenkins played “Tiger Rag”
to audition for the band,
but they didn’t think he was
hep enough.

6. Fast forward.
I began playing our piano at
about age two. By age three,
I had composed my first
opus, yummily titled “The
Cherry Song.” At five, my
mother began teaching me to
read notes. From six on, I
took piano lessons.

7. Leonard
Bernstein was
my idol.
I sat transfixed before the TV
set watching his Young
People’s Concerts.

8. As a child, I
was a big fan of
Beethoven.
The first record album I
owned myself was a
Columbia recording of
Beethoven’s “Pastoral”
Symphony conducted by
Arturo Toscanini. I played the
grooves off that disc.

9. Later, I
switched my
affections to
Bach
when I learned Two-Part
Inventions. Later, I would
fall for Mozart, then Brahms
and Schubert. Now I like
everybody. Except for
Schoenberg.

10. Fast forward.
Years later, house-sitting for
someone with a piano, I
wrote my first adult tune.
I didn’t know I could do that.
Wow!

11. I wrote more
music.
But neighborhood teachers
hadn’t taught me theory.
So I studied jazz theory with
John Elliott. He had played
piano with a combo at the
Playboy Club downtown
for decades.
He called guys “cats.”
He was definitely hep.

12. I worked in
theater until
my money
ran out.
I directed a dramatic play
for a community theater
group and wrote and
performed the theme and
incidental music for it.
I also co-directed a couple
of musicals.

13. At ad agencies,
I got to work
for arts
organizations.
Ballet Omaha, Opera
Omaha, and the Joslyn
Museum had slim budgets,
but I enjoyed doing TV, radio
and print for them.

14. Great music
and inspired
visions have
always thrilled
me.
And they always will.

15. Thanks for watching.
Liz Craig
913.236.7595
liz@lizcraigwriter.com
http://lizcraigwriter.com