The Cincinnati Symphony was in town last week to play David Geffen Hall...a fabulous performance of Tchaikovsky Symphony #5 (major kudos to Liz Freimuth for a beautiful 2nd Mvt. solo!). I got the chance to hang out with my long-time friend and mentor Charlie Bell during the week, which was inspiring enough in itself, but our conversations reminded several times of a chance meeting back in 1986 when Charlie and I, after playing a Cincinnati Symphony concert in Carnegie, ran into Kendall Betts in a restaurant across 7th Avenue. He was in town for a Minnesota Orchestra concert the next day. When we asked him what he was doing later, he said that he was going to practice. It was already 10:30 pm. I couldn't believe that a professional of his stature, playing in the orchestra all the time, needed to practice that late at night. So I asked him, "Didn't you already play today?" To which he responded that he had, but, "You can never practice enough....I play whenever I get the chance, early morning, after concerts, whenever!" Wise advice from a professional who really knows what he is talking about.