This meeting took place at Janos Starker's home in Bloomington, Indiana. After an afternoon of teaching Mr. Starker discusses his teaching philosophy with Uri Vardi Videography and editing: Hagit Vardi
I attended many master classes. Starker had three chairs. He sat in the middle, on his was his cello, on the right was a huge ash tray. I can’t take the smoke either. I was in my early 20s then. But if I had been a bit older, I would have gone up to him and urged him to stop smoking. Though he lived to almost 90, he would have likely made it to 100 if he had stopped smoking, and he would have performed longer as well. I remember him demonstrating with a cigarette in his bowing hand while playing. So sad. And the pharmaceutical companies and tobacco companies are evil.
