As a contrarian 4th grader, Meg chose the viola as her instrument because "all the other kids were learning the violin," and a cello wouldn't fit on the school bus. As an adult, she enjoys the rich tone of the viola, and loves the way the orchestra sounds from her vantage point in the (literal, and harmonic) center.
Meg is an oceanographer who teaches and conducts research on the marine carbon cycle. She lives in Newcastle with her husband and two cats.
The orchestra saved the best for last – a stunning performance of Ottorino Respighi's 1924 masterpiece of orchestral color, the "Pines of Rome." It would be hard to fault any of it, including the recording of the nightingale in the "Pines of the Janiculum," which was the most surreal I have ever heard. The march of the Roman legions that concludes the images begins with a ghostly remembrance that gradually emerges into a menacing reality, perhaps the ascendance of fascism. This is the kind of music that can achieve its full effect only in live performance. Respighi wanted the ground to tremble under marching feet, and on Sunday it did.- Portland Press Herald