“If music is indeed a competition, as he claims it is, then Robert Vernon clearly has won,” writes Zachary Lewis in Thursday’s (9/8) Plain Dealer (Cleveland). “Upon his retirement this month from the Cleveland Orchestra, the former principal violist earned the title of emeritus, in recognition of his unprecedented 40-year tenure and deep imprint on the ensemble…. Retirement, for Vernon—a personality his wife, Valerie, describes as ‘double Type-A’—is more of a change of pace than an actual ceasing of work…. Already an active professor at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Vernon said he now plans to increase his commitment there. He’ll also continue to teach at the Juilliard School … and appear regularly at the summer festivals where he honed his craft.… After 40 years building and leading a top-notch viola section, one composed of several of his own former students, Vernon now says those peers are the one thing he’ll miss more than anything else.”
Posted September 14, 2016
