September 11, 2001
The personal story that stayed with me from the weeks following the tragedy was the essay published in Salon (and other publications) written by violinist William Harvey. Then a freshman at Julliard, Harvey played at the Armory for the 69th Division of the Army as they returned from the rubble. Today I wondered what had become of Harvey. I assumed he’d graduated and went onto a professional career and that I’d find a few search hits for his name in either graduate school or symphony programs. Well, I did, but there was more. Harvey did graduate with a Master’s degree and many honors from Julliard this year. He’s now the interim concertmaster of the Spokane Symphony. And he’s a composer. But the best part is that he founded Music for the People following his experience with 9/11. Its mission is “to send young classical musicians around the world to use music as the medium for cultural diplomacy.” He’s also keeping a weblog of news related to this project. He has first hand accounts of trips to Zimbabwe, the Philippines, Moldova and Tunisia. It’s a shining example of positive action triggered by the tragedy.