CAUT

Hi CAUTs,

For those who have not yet heard, we lost David Brown earlier this month. David was an exceptional technician and teacher, and mentored so many of us here in Dallas in his kind, humble way. His passing will leave a huge hole in the DFW piano scene, and in our hearts. He was fairly active on the CAUT forum, so I wanted to make sure you all knew of this sad news. David was very quiet about the cancer he'd been dealing with the last few years, so not many people even knew he was ailing.

The following is from Tom Keck, a music professor and director in the music division at SMU:

"we will host a Celebration of Life for David Brown next Thursday, February 27 in Caruth Auditorium beginning at 3:30 p.m. We will also have the Jones Grand Atrium available for reminiscing and hopefully light refreshments following the Caruth program...everything to conclude by 5 p.m. 

Several of us will speak briefly and I welcome self-nominations from anyone who wishes to speak (email tkeck@smu.edu) while we curate an appropriate program. Also, if you have a funny or profound story that involves David Brown that you would like to have shared by someone else, please email it to musicoffice@mail.smu.edu.

I welcome all ideas - everything is beneficial to this project. To be certain, the request is for the event to be 'lighthearted' and that certainly resonates with the joyful interactions we shared with David."

While this event is SMU-based, they have told me they'd love to have the local technicians attend. I do not believe any other formal services are being planned (at David's request) so this is a good chance to celebrate his life and remember him. I have reached out to ask about parking and whether the event will be recorded or livestreamed. They will let me know asap about streaming and then I will pass the word along. Nathan Smith and I have been collecting videos of David teaching and working on pianos, and have sent a few things in, as they may have some big screens going in the auditorium. 

I'll send more details once I have them, just wanted to get the word out. I know he appreciated this group very much.