When my oldest was a little little girl, she attended this school.... Hearthstone School.
At the time, the school was located on the grounds of an estate owned by Lorin Maazel, who is the conductor of the NY Philharmonic. He has children the same age and he wanted them educated in the Waldorf method, so basically he opened up a little home school for his own kids and opened it up to neighbourhood children, of which my oldest was one. That school eventually had to move to bigger quarters, which is what you see on their web site, but for a long time it was situated right on the Maazel estate, Chateauville.
The estate was pretty amazing, because he built it to be a respite and studio space for his friends and colleagues. There were a lot of really interesting people there and one of the things Maestro asked his friends was to give back a little bit by interacting with the kids.
So one day, I walked into the classroom and there was my oldest, 5 at the time, sitting on the floor between the legs of some man I didn't recognize. He was helping her bow "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." I left them to it and went into the kitchen to wash the lunch dishes. (The school was a cooperative, parents did all the work.)
I asked someone in the kitchen who was in the nursery with the kids. It was Yo Yo Ma.
Some while later, Dietlinde, Maestro's wife, came over to the school and told us we were going to have a benefit concert for the school in the auditorium/studios they'd built on the property. Pavarotti would be singing.
Pavarotti came a few days ahead of time. He spent a LOT of time with the kids. He taught them a song which they sang at the concert with him. He was so gentle, so good with the kids, and gave them so much enthusiasm and joy of it that to this day, my kid who can't carry a note in a feed bucket LOVES to sing. This is a mixed blessing for those of us who have to listen, but something that she loves so much and which means so much to her.
He did the concert. The school made a tonne of money. I was an usher. I stood on the side and wept when I saw my kid on stage with him. I wept when he sang, it was so beautiful. The venue is so small, and intimate, and he was singing just for us. It was such a gift.
I want to thank you, Mr Pavarotti. God speed.
PS. I helped the kids make lunch for him. Love Soup and Love Bread. The kindergartners made this every week for themselves out of the garden. They cut the veggies and kneaded the bread themselves. He ate like those kids had served him the finest, sitting on two of those little people chairs at that tiny round table. I loved that.