Fan correspondence and email signup:
cecilegrobe@yahoo.com

Several nice fan notes:

Dear Cecile:

Once again, a triumph of musicality and soul! Recently, we discussed a memoir called 'Reading Lolita in Tehran' by Azar Nafisi at the Library. It is the story of a group of women struggling against repression in the Islamic regime in Iran, secretly meeting to discuss literature in the author's home. One of the characters in the memoir is a friend of Nafisi's she calls 'the magician.' He is her mentor and helps her keep her sanity in the midst of an impossible situation-but, since he is an artist and a philosopher, he is more than a 'mentor,' he is a lodestone, a guiding light, someone who is able to give her what she needs to grow as a human being, grow enough to transcend the situation on some higher level of soul-functioning.

That book got me to thinking about 'magicians' in my own life. Cecile, you are definitely a 'magician' in mine! Though we haven't spent much time together, you have a profound impact on my thinking, and my sense of what is possible and impossible to achieve as a human being. I loved hearing your gorgeous music, it opened up spatial landscapes in my mind that really felt three-dimensional, and seemed to pry some hidden doors open in my innermost being as well. Giving rustily at first, then swinging freely on their hinges by song's end! And I drank in your words just as thirstily - so honest, generative, wise and transcendently loving. Thank you so, so much for your generous gift to the Library, Cecile! And here is to the 'magician' you so triumphantly are! Let's keep in touch.

Love, Lauri B.

Dear Cecile,

During your concert in Coventry, I realized that it had been too long since I had enjoyed live music by a performer with such concentrated talent.

For me, your gifts combine the best of 19th, 20th and 21st century music and made it all your own. I have a theory that the experience of sound is related to the experience of touch - that the sound waves can caress our minds and heal us in much the same ways a healing touch does.

Thank you for translating so much of what you feel on behalf of us all into a medium that touches us all.

Bravo, bravo!

Jane Schweinsburg
Coventry Public Library

Dear Cecile,

As I said to you on the day of your concert - that was the best artistic and spiritual experience I've had in a long, long time. You are a wonderful person, whose beauty shines out to a high luster with the added power of your training and technique.

I was in awe of what you can say with a keyboard - and with your voice and manner in your commentary as well. BRAVO!!!

Love,
Lauri B.

Dear Cecile,

It was an unexpected pleasure to happen upon your piano performance at Border's this afternoon. You play with energy and focus and your original compositions speak volumes about your spiritual generosity.

'Trees' is about a walk you had in the woods. That walk must have taken place in the autumn; you could almost hear leaves fall to the ground in a delicate, playful way from a strong and mighty tree.

A woman from the audience asked you to play 'Impasse' which you said is about breaking down the walls that separate us, one from the other. It begins with a constant and strong percussive repetition - chipping away, chipping away - but not nagging. Chipping away with lightness and even humor.

'Jeanine's Song,' written for your daughter, who you said always wants you to go further. 'It's a toughie,' you said. 'It was a tough one.' I think I saw (or heard) what you meant by it. It was a thicker stew, a thicker texture. Threads added later, perhaps gold threads, to add an unexpected sparkle to the weave. But when I say 'thicker,' I have to add that it never once got "heavy."

And 'Wildflowers' - about freedom - soared! Bravo! (Or Brava!)

Sincerely,
Barbara Waterston
Providence Magazine

Saudacoes, Cecile:

Your material arrived. I love it!

I'm still pre-producing the programs, and when I get more details I'll tell you. The station is called "Radio Cultura" and is located in Campinas (Sao Paulo state) and their waves reach 10 cities around.

And there is the posibility of your work being on the air at a radio station called "Eldorado," located in Sao Paulo. I give you more details as soon as I get them.

Much thanks for your help!"

- Luis Carlos Pavan