Missouri Classical Music News and Notes

The narrow hallway of the People's Music School was cluttered with musical instruments, but it didn't slow the children noisily making their way to lessons.

The scene, a blend of serious music study and youthful laughter, was a longtime dream of Rita Simo, who left an impoverished upbringing in the Dominican Republic for the Juilliard School, became a concert pianist - and then a nun - and eventually opened the school in 1976.

She believed high quality, classical music instruction should be available to everyone, regardless of economic status. . . .

The school, in Chicago's gritty Uptown neighborhood, provides tuition-free music instruction to anyone. Each semester, hundreds of people like Maria Ugarta stand in line for hours to grab one of about 350 slots for themselves or their children.

Contract talks between musicians and management at major orchestras are usually contentious. But the bitterness that broke out at the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra this winter was something else again. A work stoppage from the players forced the cancellation of nearly two months of concerts. A contract was finally agreed to in late February, but the antagonism left raw feelings on all sides.

So it was hoped that coming to New York to play an all-American program at Carnegie Hall on Saturday night would be a healing experience for the orchestra. The conductor was the dynamic David Robertson, the orchestra's music director designate. A good-sized audience turned up. How did it turn out?

More than a healing, the concert was a love-fest. . . .

Mr. Robertson led the orchestra in a sweeping and heady account of Ives's youthful Second Symphony to end the concert. His programs for his inaugural season, which begins in September, look terrific: a bracing mix of old and new with some inventive and surprising groupings. I hope the city of St. Louis knows what it has in this adventurous conductor. So far the orchestra players seem to.

The St. Louis Symphony, having apparently recovered from its recent attempt at public hari-kari, has announced its first season under David Robertson, and it's a pleasure to behold. Everything from Josquin to Adams, in elegant groupings. Without trying to force thematic connections, the orchestra has come up with neat titles for each event. I like "Radiance" as a catch-all for the Magic Flute Overture, Feldman's Coptic Light, and Das Lied von der Erde. Notice also that the orchestra now has its own blog.

In a split second, Darrel Barnes knew his career as a professional violist was over. His life was over.

Distracted while adjusting the carburetor of an idling mower, he'd reached under the machine to lift it up, mangling three of his left fingers — losing one — in the whirring blade.