One of the aims of the Alexandra Eddy Project is to provide music for people who are not easily able to leave their homes. On September 28, Alexandra played a program similar to that of the Hurricane Benefit concert in the home of Mary Lou, a fascinating person with much musical knowledge and life experience. Just one of the many fields in which she worked during her professional life was real estate: she earned her license at the age of 62!

She learned piano, clarinet, and voice as a young child, but because her family did not own a piano, she had to walk a long way to her grandmother's house in order to practice. She did so regularly until a kind friend gave her piano to the family for the price of a tuning and cleaning, to Mary Lou's great delight. She wishes she had had the instrument to practice on all along.

Mary Lou, who has a son and a daughter and four grandchildren, lost her husband in 2004 to Parkinson's with dementia and has lived alone since then. A number of health problems make it difficult for her to go to concerts or other events, and Alexandra was delighted to bring music to her. Between pieces, she asked thoughtful questions about the music, the violin, and Alexandra's training, and talked about her own musical experiences. "You have a style with your playing," she said, "and I am intrigued with it. I don't think I've heard another violinist whose style I was so intrigued by."

Photo by Jim Roecker