Musical moms find life is sweet

The two retired from the Florida Orchestra to be full-time mothers. Now they've joined forces, creating Trio Dolce Vita.

By LOGAN D. MABE, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published August 4, 2002

WESTCHASE -- Separately, they were finding their way up and down the musical scale, trying to juggle the mastery of melody and motherhood. Together, they have found a way to create sweet music while solidifying their roles as moms.

Christine Mori and Catherine Landmeyer had both reached the pinnacles of their profession with the Florida Orchestra, Mori as the orchestra's principal pianist and Landmeyer as its principal flutist. Mori left the orchestra in 1998 to spend more time with harp-playing daughter Alexis who is 11. Landmeyer retired in 2000 to raise 4-year-old Hannah and 20-month-old Sarah.

"We were both in the same boat. Both retired orchestra people and we both retired so we could raise our kids," Mori said. "So we have this life now. It's kind of remarkable how this all fell together."

The thing that fell together was Trio Dolce Vita (Italian for "sweet life") with Landmeyer, Mori and Alexis forming a chamber music ensemble. Their debut performance is today at the Tarpon Springs Performing Arts Center.

"We knew each other through work," Mori said. "When Catherine retired, I guess she contacted Alexis to babysit for her. That's kind of how it all started. Then this brilliant light went on. Alexis could babysit and we could rehearse together."

"She called me one day and said, "Would you like to get together and play just for fun,"' Landmeyer recalled. "We did and we just really enjoyed ... playing for the fun of it, which is something that neither one of us got to do for a really long time. When you're in the orchestra, you have to play at the top of your game all the time, and that can get really tiring. We were just enjoying playing for ourselves."

Alexis, already an accomplished player as principal harpist with the Pinellas Youth Symphony, was relieved of her babysitting duties and invited to round out the trio.

"The girls just love watching Alexis play the harp," Landmeyer said. "She's really good. She is very, very talented and has an enormous amount of poise and confidence."

Like Alexis, Mori and Landmeyer got their musical starts early in life.

Mori began playing the piano at age 7 at the urging of her ballet teachers. "I really wanted to be a dancer," Mori said. "That was my fist love. But my ballet teacher told me it would be really good to take piano lessons. When I was 13, I had dance four times a week and piano twice a week and it was too much. At the time, there really weren't that many Japanese ballerinas, so it looked more practical to go with piano."

That decision ultimately took her to the prestigious Juilliard School.

Landmeyer took up the flute when she was 14. "It just came very naturally, and I knew at that point that's what I wanted to do," she said. A summer spent at a suite symposium put on by the Boston Symphony in Tanglewood iced it for Landmeyer. "I was just in awe of the place," she said. "That was it. That's when I knew this was what I wanted to do."

Now, after having been away from performing for a few years, both women said they're eager to return to the stage. "It's in your blood when you're a performer," Landmeyer said. "It never goes away."

"I'm very excited," Mori said. "this is our debut and my daughter's debut. It's going to be fun. And it's an unusual combination of instruments. You hardly ever get to hear harp and piano together."

For Landmeyer, walking away from the comforting success of the concert life to embrace her role as a full-time mom was a life-changing event. "It was very hard, the hardest thing I've ever done," Landmeyer said. "It took me two years to make the decision. I took one year off after Hannah was born and played part time. That whole year I struggled with, "Am I doing the right thing playing? I miss her so much when I'm away.' The next year I took a sabbatical to see how it felt and got pregnant again. So I had to decide what to do.

"Still, it was tough because once I left, that very well may be it for me as far as being a principal in an orchestra. But this is a new chapter in my life and I have not regretted it one day."

-- Logan D. Mabe can be reached at 269-5304 or at mabe@sptimes.com.

If you go

Trio Dolce Vita performs at 3 p.m. today at the Tarpon Springs Performing Arts Center, 324 E Pine St. The chamber music concert features Westchase residents Christine Mori on piano, flutist Catherine Landmeyer and harpist Alexis Spieldenner. The program consists of pieces by Faure, Dussek, Debussy, Poulenc, Satie and Haydn. Tickets are $10 and $12. Call (727) 942-5605 for information.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright