PRIMETIME of your life FREE | VOLUME 4 • ISSUE NO. 6 | JUNE 2015 Interesting features for our 50+ audience
Luca & Arlene DiCecco a musical journey for two
sible standards. Eventually, the boy and the man tangled in a last-straw confrontation that convinced Luca to abandon the instrument “for the rest of my natural life.” Music, however was deep in his DNA, as he would rediscover when the time was ripe.
SUMMERTIME HOBBIES PAGE 4
Arlene Osler was born in Johannesburg, South Africa and raised there until the age of 10, when her older sister, Edith Joyce, won a government scholarship to study music abroad. “It was the end of WWII,” Arlene explained. “Since there was still a lot of upheaval and travel was difficult, it was not advisable to let her go alone.” So, the entire family relocated to London and settled into a bustling Post-War England.
Luca and Arlene in Temecula wine country By Lucinda Sue Crosby
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932 was a memorable year for a number of reasons. For one thing, the Great Depression had reached its nadir, shoving millions of Americans to the brink of emotional and physical starvation. For a couple of other reference points, Amelia Earhart became the first woman to solo the Atlantic Ocean; the Polaroid camera and the parking meter were invented; and Al Capone was convicted of income tax evasion. In Waterbury, Connecticut against this backdrop of dramatic world shift, a genial and gifted musician was born to Mr. and Mrs. Mario
DiCecco, immigrants from Cerce Maggiore, Italy. Mario, a founder of the Waterbury Symphony Orchestra, had definite ideas about raising children. He named the boy Luca and insisted that his son would be a violinist, whatever the heaving tides tossed in his path. “My father told me I was going to learn the violin … and that was that,” Luca said. “In fact, all of us six children were required to play an instrument, and do it well.” Under his father’s increasingly rigorous tutelage, Luca attempted gamely yet unsuccessfully to master a set of what seemed like impos-
In those days, the arts were esteemed as 1) valuable contributions to a recovering society and 2) conduits to reestablish lines of communication among ever changing populations and between former enemies. Arlene started out studying the piano but soon enough discovered she had a real flair for the violin. By the time Luca was 15, his younger brother was taking cello lessons in Waterbury from Adolf Abbenante (who wound up as a soloist with the San Antonio Symphony). For lack of something more scintillating to do, Luca began tagging along. story continued on page 12
THIS MONTH IN HISTORY PAGE 6
MONTHLY RECIPE PAGE 8