Evie Morris' Comments During A Night for Musical Memories

Cain Park came alive on July 19, 2006, as more than 130 benefit patrons and 430 music fans enjoyed A Night for Musical Memories, a musical tribute to renowned Cleveland Heights musician, educator and mentor, Vince Patti.

Emcee Evie Morris tied together the eclectic concert with the following commentary showing the connections of the music to the interests and talents of Vince Patti.

GOOD EVENING and welcome to “A Night for Musical Memories.”

My name is Evie Rosen-Morris and it is an honor and privilege to represent one of the thousands of people whose life was touched and influenced by Mr. Patti!

Throughout HIS life, Vincent Edward Patti generously shared many gifts and talents. He was an outstanding classically-trained musician who played the clarinet and saxophone. He formed his first big band when he was 14 and led his last until shortly before his death last summer at age 85. In the Cleveland Heights /University Heights schools, he was a dedicated teacher of vocal and instrumental music for over 20 years and when he retired from his public school career, he continued teaching privately at Academy Music, here in Cleveland Heights.

According to his sons, Mr. Patti’s approach to teaching all aspects of music was rooted in his FORMAL training and deep love for classical music.

So it is most appropriate that we begin this evening’s remembrance and celebration with Classical Chamber Music.
In the summer of 1819, in a small town near Vienna, Franz Shubert wrote the ever-popular “Trout Quintet” so-named because the delightful theme and variations evoke images of cool, sun-flecked water and the ease with which the trout escape the fishermen’s net.

Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the Evans Amphitheater stage our esteemed performers: Anita Pontremoli, piano; Lawrence Angell, bass; Diane Mather,cello; Judy Berman, viola and Bruce Patti, violin as they share with you Theme and Variations from the Trout Quintet in D Major by Franz Shubert.

Jeannette and Vince Patti met and fell in love while pursuing their education degrees at Western Reserve University. They were married for 57 years and raised 5 sons: Don, Doug, Kenneth, Bruce and Brian. Mrs. Patti taught 5th and 6th grade at Fairfax and Roxboro elementary schools here in Cleveland Heights for over 20 years, until her retirement in 1975, when she chose to be the primary caregiver for Vince, who was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 1966. Vince always gave Jeannette credit for encouraging him to continue playing music during his retirement.

In the 1960’s, Jeannette’s mother, a pianist who played the organ for the silent movies in Cleveland and Vince’s Dad, a clarinetist, joined the next 2 generations as the Patti family orchestra, performing for many PTA and school functions.
Jeannette, a Cleveland Heights High School graduate, played the French Horn and it is in her memory that the next selection is dedicated. How unique and amazing it is to also share with you that Jeannette Patti’s father built the home in which two of our wonderful musicians, Anita Pontremoli and Lawrence Angell, live. That house sits right up the hill here on Hyde Park and in the front bedroom of the second floor, where Anita’s daughter now lives,Jeannette Patti was born.

Johannes Brahms wrote the Trio in E flat Major, the ONLY horn trio written in the 19th century, in remembrance of HIS mother. This evening the Scherzo movement will be performed by Richard King, French Horn; Anita Pontremoli, piano and Bruce Patti, violin.

As in the symmetry and harmony that make a glorious piece of music a joy to hear and an invitation to the Spirit, a major event, such as this evening, can only occur through the efforts and commitment of many different people who offer their unique skills and talents to a project that is greater than any one individual.

Our Musical Directors for the first half of the program, Bruce Patti and Diane Mather, chose every selection with great thought and care and then proceeded to find the gifted musicians who could do justice to their vision. Bruce Patti is also responsible for sharing a brief bit musical history for each of the selections we are hearing this evening, for which I am truly grateful.

Robert Schumann wrote the Piano Quartet in E flat Major in one week! The intricacies that feature each instrument and the intertwining that connects one to the other to create their glorious whole is a monumental accomplishment, making this piece a much-loved standard in chamber music repertoire.

The quartet this evening consists of Bruce Patti, Violin; Judy Berman, Viola; Diane Mather, cello; and Anita Pontremoli piano.( I would like to add that Anita Pontremoli graciously stepped in to share her pianistic artistry when Christine-Fessenmeyer Hill, Vince’s lovely niece and also a very talented pianist, was unable to perform, due to unforeseen circumstances.)

The Andante Cantabile movement of Robert Schumann’s Piano Quartet in E flat Major.

Tonight, as we celebrate and remember the legacy of Vince Patti, we also acknowledge the second reason we are here this evening, the creation of The Patti Family Music Scholarship, a fund that will enable students in our school district to have private music lessons and we all know, as musicians, what a difference that makes in learning music.

Vince and Jeannette gave to their children what was given to them. Sam Patti, Vince’s father was a clarinetist who was a member of the FIRST graduating class of Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, where Vince was born.
Sam Patti taught for years at The Cleveland Music School Settlement, and was, literally, getting ready to go teach one Saturday morning, when he passed away.

When the Cleveland Orchestra needed a clarinetist to play that famous opening to Rhapsody in Blue, it was Vince Patti, at age 17, who graced the stage of Severance Hall and provided that sound that blended his meticulous classical training with the jazz inflection he had honed so well. Vince mentored many a contemporary player in his youth in the big bands he led and played in, including the famous trumpeter, Ray Anthony, who maintained a lifelong friendship with Vince and told us that “ Vince was always as happy for my success as he was for his own.”

Like HIS father, Brian Patti plays clarinet and saxophone, is a big band leader and woodwind specialist in the Chicago area. And now, joining Brian on the stage,is Cleveland State University’s Clarinet Choir, coached by Theodore Johnson. Please look in your program to see who these young artists are. Written originally as a quartet, the Choir will double our listening enjoyment as an Octet with their performance of Rondo Cappriccio, Opus 14, by Felix Mendelssohn.

WE know that one teacher can make a difference in a young life and it was my good fortune to have had Mr. Patti as my vocal music teacher when he was at Wiley Junior High School. As was his nature, his constant quest for excellence led him to become a member of the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus under the direction of Robert Shaw. I am sure that Vince loved to sing, but the real reason he was there was to learn as much as he could about singing, so he could impart that knowledge to us, his students.

The e-mails and testimonials that have been sent to Reaching Heights, from across the country, have consistently shared similar sentiments and personal stories about the impact Vince Patti had on people’s lives..
As an educator, Mr. Patti knew no bias, gender or otherwise. If you were interested and tried, you were given a chance to explore, learn and grow. As a friend, he was loyal and generous. As a mentor and role model, he made suggestions from his experience that enriched and embellished yours. Above all, his passion for music was a gift that we continue to receive and share.

After our final selection for the first half of our program, there will be a 15 minute intermission, during which, we invite you to go up to the Terrace and look at the wonderful photo display of the Patti family that was put together by our graphic designer, Daniel Boyle. Daniel also did these wonderful pictures of Vince that grace the stage this evening.

Of Wolfgang Amadeus’ Mozart’s final two works, the Ave Verum and the Requiem, the Ave Verum was his last completed work. Written for 4 voices and strings, the small motet has become one of Mozart’s best known works.
We are extremely grateful to the members of the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus, under the direction of Robert Porco, who are sharing their time and talent with us tonight, and our instrumentalists: Gino Raffaelli and Bruce Patti, violins, Judy Berman, viola, Diane Mather, cello and Lawrence Angell, bass.

Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls Mozart’s Ave Verum Corpus.