High Notes and Low: Recollections of a Musical Career (With Strings Attached)

When Esther Schure's mother decidedthat her daughter would become a violinist,there was no stopping this determined woman. Theimmigrant family moved from Hamilton, Ontario, toRochester, New York (Eastman School of Music), and thento New York City-all in the interest of furthering Esther'smusical education and subsequent career. From thebeginning, as a four-year old, Esther developed her naturaltalent, and with the help of patrons and outstanding teachersshe became a professional violinist. Her career spans most ofthe twentieth century, from the 1930's to her retirement in1994. She played under the batons of some of the mostrenowned conductors of the era, including LeonardBernstein and Leopold Stokowski. Her memoirs are a rareview from the inside of many professional orchestras. She hasa talent for reproducing the personae of players, conductors,and the whole backstage. She recounts studying at theInstitute of Musical Art, New York, (which later wouldbecome a part of Juilliard School of Music), and withLeopold Auer, teacher of the most famous violinists,including Jascha Heifetz and Mischa Elman. She wasconcertmaster on tour with the American Ballet Theatre, theBritish Royal Ballet, the St. Louis Symphony, and finally athirty-seven year stint as first violinist/assistantconcertmaster with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. The characters she describes on her journey arefunny, temperamental, and talented-but ofall the musicians, Esther herself is thepersonification of a true violinist.