Into Flight from

 Into Flight from...

     Greg would probably describe himself as a better than average college student but no Phi Beta Kappa kind of cat. It was not the way he became an extremely erudite young man but it did enable him to put a couple of letters after his name as in B.A. in History. The man had a thirst for knowledge and we were lucky enough to be given many opportunities to enrich our South Gate brains with culture. Greg had no compunction about going to the theater or concert by himself and when he was attending college he was also educating himself about classical music. In our youth there was hardly any representation of this art form except the Standard School Broadcast Hour with pieces conducted by Carmen Dragon such as "Peter and the Wolf" or "the Sorcerers Apprentice" that we heard on Disneyland. All it took was for this South Gate Sheehy lad to sit in Royce Hall or the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and be overwhelmed by a full orchestra getting him stoned without drugs to be a fan. As a matter of fact he did smoke a joint or  two before a concert or two I believe. He followed the Young Musicians Foundation where you could hear great music by future soloists at a very moderate price and he knew names like Paul Polivnik or Mona Golabek who thrilled audiences in LA in the early 70's. Greg attended a performance of "Le Bourgious Gentlehomme" by Richard Strauss and was moved by the lively overture that was based on a dance tune. He swore up and down that in the next week he heard those very same opening notes whistled by a bird outside his bedroom window. Greg was open to listening to all sort of compositions to find his sweet spot so he bulled the neck and went to see the debut of a contemporary classical piece by a backup LA Phil conductor named Gerhardt Samuel. In a groovy new classical style it had a name "Into Flight From..." with the hopeful Sheehy digging in and staying awake for some avant garde sounds. Samuel was a solid conductor and knowledgeable musician but he was venturing into unknown waters where Greg was floating along with his creation. The piece was coming to a stirring conclusion and Greg was ready to celebrate the completion of  his cultural lesson when a woman right behind him issued a massive sneeze right exactly at the climax of the piece. A deflated Gerhard was not far away at the stand raising his  baton when ACHOO! boomed across the entire hall, obscuring the final triumphant notes.