i WAS IN nEW yORK cITY THE MORNING OF 9/11. i WAS ON THE 17TH FLOOR OF A HOTEL ON 80ST AND RIVERSIDE DRIVE GETTING READY FOR A PERFORMANCE THAT NIGHT AT THE METROPOLITAN OPERA.
I TRIED CALLING THE STAGE OFFICE NUMBER FOR TWO HOURS UNTIL 2 P.M. TO SEE IF WE WERE GOINg TO HAVE PERFORMANCE THAT NIGHT.
THE SUBWAYS HAD STOPPED, and I could not get a taxi, even thought I was to have a knee replacement in 3 months I got my Cello and walked from my hotel to the stage door of the Metropolitan Opera.
Inside everyone was standing around a television. At about 4 p.m. Mistro Volpe came down and said we were go for the performnce that night. He said we could not be stopped. Many musicians and some in the chrois could not get in because the bridges and tunnels were closed into the city.
The administrative staff was calling fills for the string section so we would have something that resembled an orchestra.
The Executive Director Mistro Volpe then called over to the Juilliard School, and told them that nay students who wished could attend that night for free. He knew there would be many empty seats but wanted to show that we could still proceed as near to normal as possible.
Well the show went on, with about 1/2 the usual staff, many who could not get home slept that night in rehersal rooms, using props as bedding. I asked a few musicians who had no where to go to "crash in my hotel room" Others did the same as every hotel room in the city was filled by New Yorkers who could not go home that night.
I was 56 years old then, and I learned something that night I will never forget. It was that you cannot let fear stop you. It was that as Americans we went on with our work and did not quit.
We had Mistro Volpe come on stage before the curtain went up and the house lights dimmed, had a moment of prayer, and the Orchestra played the Star Spangled Banner. Then it was work as usual. That night we allowed some three thousand New Yorkers who were in the house to have some hours where they could listen to beautiful music and be transported back in time.
We did not quit.
I fear we have forgotten those days when we were united and focused.
I live outside of Washington D.C> now, and still perform, but living close to Washington and having friends and neighbors who work in government and media, I fear that we have forgotten who we were on 9/11.
Obama will get a bump in the polls, but I guarantee by the time we have to face the 90 degree dog day's of summer the pride we have today as Americans will fade. We will be fightiong each other only a year from an election and we will look at cars driving by us that display bumper stickers of the candidate we oppose and wonder if we should give the driver the finger.

It will all be busines as usual again. I can only pray that the courage I saw in New York the night of 9/11, the dedication of the musicians and performers that allowed the show to go on and some people to relax a little on that night, will not disappear, but I fear it will. Americans have a short memory and as we face $5 and $6 dollar gas we will once again focus on what divides us rather than what unites us. Too bad the show can't go on every night and the spirit of 9/11 can be as short as a three hour Opera. Before long we will forget the courage of the men who brought Usama down, we will forget the rush we felt when we heard that the man who was responsible for killing so many Americans was killed by us, and we will forget the lessons we learned from 9/11