Off Hours features a look at some of the interesting avocations, hobbies and services of the people of Brown University
Today, the associate dean for academic affairs and programs occasionally "messes around" on the piano, but her true passion still lies with the cello. She shares that passion with colleague Joan Lusk, the associate dean of the Graduate School.
Lusk recalls how she dreaded her piano lessons. To escape them, she begged her parents to let her take up her grandfather's old cello in the attic. Despite its missing string, which accommodated his arthritis, she learned to love playing it. Forty-three years later the love affair continues.
Both are quite fond of their cellos and would do anything to protect them. Lusk admits "it's the first thing I would save from a burning house."
Romer has had only two cellos in her lifetime. The current one, inherited when she was a teenager, is her favorite. She remembers how she couldn't wait to open it the day it arrived. After playing it for forty-something years she says "our lives are woven together." She loves the way it looks, the color, the depth of the sound, even "the woof it has in one place."
For Lusk, the third cello was the charm. "The sound flows easily. My last cello sounded too timid," she says.
The two continue to flex their cello-playing muscles regularly by performing chamber music with other amateur musicians. Romer plays in a string quartet and a piano trio; Lusk plays with a piano quartet. Sometimes the groups will play for an audience but more often they play for themselves. Over the course of their careers at Brown (both arrived 28 years ago), they have rarely had the occasion to play together.
They agree the cello is perfect for chamber music because of its versatility. "It is more serious than a piccolo or a bassoon," says Lusk. She believes the "rich, deep" sound of the cello supports everyone else in the group.
"It can be very elegiac... but can be gay and up," says Romer. She finds playing chamber music satisfying because it creates a "wonderful combination of all the instruments."
In addition to playing with chamber groups, both Lusk and Romer try to practice daily and attend workshops several times a year. The workshops bring together people from all over the country. "We're all amateurs in the same boat," says Romer. "We don't have a reputation to lose. We don't have to make a living off of it."
Both women enthusiastically extend an invitation to new members of the Brown community who are interested playing music to contact them. They can be reached by phone or by e-mail.- Maria Rose