Miguel Muelle
Born in Peru in 1957,
we left Lima for the USA when I was
nine. We lived in Boston, Massachusetts
and later in Madrid, Spain. I have always
loved music. In Peru my Austrian grandfather
would play equal doses of "Studentenlieder"
and Beethoven. It was on his Telefunken
Hi-Fi set that I first heard the Tannhäuser
overture under the baton of Knappertsbusch.
My first personal plunkings, guided
by ear only, were on the accordion he
had stashed in the attic.
I have subsequently
played any piano open to me, always
promising myself that someday I would
learn to play properly and to read music.
In 2003, when I returned home from a
business trip, my wife Lynne surprised
me with a beautiful Yamaha studio upright.
A few months later I finally began piano
lessons with a classical pianist, and
am now able to read music (albeit not
as fluidly as I would like!) and play
some of the masters - Bach, Chopin,
and Grieg, among others — a dream come
true half a century later!
A graphic designer
for tv and iinteractive media working
from home near Atlanta, Georgia, I usher
with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra,
which enables me to attend many concerts
and to meet some visiting musicians.
The Baroque keyboard repertoire and
Late Romantic orchestral music draw
me most, although everything from "early"
music to early 20th century composition
interest me as well. Always having admired
the Dvorak cello concerto, my future
wife introduced me to Jacqueline du
Pré's interpretation, which captured
me. I fell in love with Jackie's playing
in general, and even asked Lynne to
marry me during the second movement.
As a tribute to Jackie, I designed a
Web site that has become the de facto
official Jacqueline du Pré site
(www.jacquelinedupre.net).
