Sad news about the passing of the great Russian cellist and conductor Mstislav Rostropovich yesterday at age 80. It feels like an international day of mourning for cellists and all his countless fans throughout the world. I was lucky enough to meet him once at the 1st World Cello Congress in Washington in 1988. He was in the audience and heard me play my electric cello with my jazz quartet on an evening concert called "New Dimensions in Cello" at the University of Maryland. Afterward he came backstage and gave me a big Russian bear hug and said "Bravo Chris, bravissimo!" That was one of the big highlights of my career for sure. He also knew about the New Directions Cello Association and Festival. We sent Cello City Ink to his artist management office in New York. I wonder if he ever got them and if he ever read them? There is also a story from 1980 at his estate in upstate NY (near Herkimer) when I helped a Vermont friend who was doing some carpentry work there. We had to remove his tools quickly with the help of some monks from a nearby Russian monastery because the property was under KGB surveillance! Quite a dramatic and funny day! What an amazing human being he was. Much like Pablo Casals he was a champion of human rights and fought oppression using his influence as a prominent world class musician. The stories of his musical and other acts could and will certainly fill volumes.

We will miss you Slava!

Chris White