Dear Mr. Parisot - Congratulations on your 60 years at Yale, and the hundreds (if not thousands) of lives you touched during your tenure!  You helped me find my own voice, and taught me to think about music and the cello in ways I had never experienced.  Your thoughts and sayings continue to be heard, through my own teaching, by my students.  I will always remember the gracious hospitality at your home over Thanksgiving dinners and end-of-year parties.

 

But my most memorable moment is not a musical memory...I was having some relational issues with a girlfriend, and I had not been able to sleep the night before a lesson.  During my lesson I felt like I could not focus on your instructions.  I finally put my cello down, apologized, and asked if we could talk about females and relationships.  You graciously listened to me, and spent the rest of the lesson discussing life and offering advice.  You even continued to ask about how I was doing in the weeks and months after.  I will never forget how thoughtful and patient you were with me during that lesson, and I try to show that same support towards my own students.  THANK YOU!!!   

 

Sincerely,

 

Dr. John Marshall (MM '92)

Director of Orchestra/Professor of Cello - Eastern Washington University

Principal Cello - Spokane Symphony Orchestra

Conductor - Spokane Youth Symphony

Instructor of Cello - Interlochen Arts Camp