Donations in memory of Peter Vernon
The Peter Vernon Fund honors the memory of beloved NJIO member, Peter Vernon. Peter was a member of NJIO the last 13 years of his life, playing violin in all four of our orchestras over the years. Your gift to the Peter Vernon Fund supports the programming that gave him so much joy.
“I took violin lessons as a youngster, back in Europe, and then I immigrated here and, no more lessons. I entered high school and was good enough to be in the orchestra because the others couldn’t play at all. And then I wound up at the All-City High School Orchestra. In those days, the All-City High School Orchestra was sponsored by the newspaper company New York Mirror, now the New York Daily News. One concert a year at Carnegie Hall. The hall, filled with parents. And the parents liked us! Can’t tell you how well we played, but the parents liked it. And that’s what I did, at age 19. And then I put the violin away for fifty-three years. Essentially didn’t pick it up. And then, after fifty-three years, I found a friend who gave me three lessons. And then I began looking for an orchestra. And, after a couple of failures, I found this one.”
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Peter Vernon, Violin