dirkronk checking back in.

[dirkronk]

Hi Lance, Corlyss, et al.

'Sup?
Dirk here...reporting in after a number of months offline.
Well, maybe a few years.
Wow, OK, make that a decade. (Really?)

So...what did I miss?


Dirk
(...hoping to say "hi" once more to Holden, georgeb, Heck, Que, Mandryka, Cheniston (violinland) and countless other online buds of long ago. Missed you guys!)

[Lance]

Well, Dirk, WELCOME BACK! We hope you are here to stay for a while now! We have missed you as well.

[Holden Fourth]

Welcome back Dirk - you have been missed. It was only the other day I was asking George if he knew where you went. Speaking of George, Mandryka, et al, you’ll find them over on GMG. Some of those mentioned don’t post any more.

[Lance]

Can't figure out why we lose some of our CMGers other than going to the Great Beyond. We've been online for years and are stable, kind, informed, and willing to listen to anybody! One would think — with the pandemic — that we would have more and more classical music lovers. How do we get some of those back from GMG? Do you have any connections with these folks? Nothing wrong with visiting both forums. Cheers! From your point of view, how DO we stack up against GMG in comparison?

Welcome back Dirk - you have been missed. It was only the other day I was asking George if he knew where you went. Speaking of George, Mandryka, et al, you’ll find them over on GMG. Some of those mentioned don’t post any more.

[maestrob]

Good morning, dirkronk, and welcome back!

Your enthusiasm has indeed been missed here!

[dirkronk]

Thanks, all.

OK, so I guess some 'splainin' is in order here. As in, where have I been all this time? And what have I been up to these past X years? Well...

Working – until May 2020 (as a reminder, I was an advertising creative director & senior copywriter). I turned 70 last July – max-out age for social security benefit growth – and the pandemic moved my planned retirement up a few months.

Investing – with retirement on the near horizon, I became more alert and active in how our IRAs, my 401(k), and our taxable investments were allocated. No, not day trading, but I did study more and posted online at investing sites.

Unwinding a bit from classical music – e.g., transitioned from being on the board of directors for a local ballet company to a less demanding advisory role; became less active in the Cactus Pear Chamber Music Festival; and so on. Also began listening less, simply because I began...

Re-learning acoustic guitar – which I basically ignored for the 30 years I was immersed in classical music (c.1978-2011). In my teens and 20s I used to play for friends, at coffeehouses in Austin, and later just at parties. Going back felt like being reunited with an old flame, but it also pushed my listening in the direction of folk, older rock, and singer/songwriter repertoire. Online, I’ve been hanging around (but honestly not posting much) at Acoustic Guitar Forum.

Retiring – which, honestly, has been confused with behaviors revolving around the pandemic...meaning it just ain’t as fun as I expected it to be. At least, not yet. My retirement “plan” (HAH!) was supposed to be all about songwriting and further refining my acoustic guitar chops...though truth be told, I think I may be pushing my luck at trying for a second career as a performing rock star or folk sensation. Oh sure, I do have that awesome half-octave vocal range, but still...

NOW I’m hoping that, with a bit more time on my hands, singer/songwriter efforts and classical listening can coexist amicably. That’s why I’ve come meandering back to the CMG fold. Don’t know if I’ll feel capable of adding much to discussions, being as rusty as I am on the topic. But I’ll lurk a bit, re-learn and re-listen to old favorite performances, and maybe trade a few quips with the folks here.

Thanks for having me. It was quite gratifying to know that my name and password still got me on board!
Cheers,
Dirk

NOTE to Lance or Corlyss...sorry if I'm wasting classical music bandwidth talking about off-topic stuff. Feel free to boot me over to the Pub if that's a more suitable venue.

[slofstra]

Thanks, all.

OK, so I guess some 'splainin' is in order here. As in, where have I been all this time? And what have I been up to these past X years? Well...

Working – until May 2020 (as a reminder, I was an advertising creative director & senior copywriter). I turned 70 last July – max-out age for social security benefit growth – and the pandemic moved my planned retirement up a few months.

Investing – with retirement on the near horizon, I became more alert and active in how our IRAs, my 401(k), and our taxable investments were allocated. No, not day trading, but I did study more and posted online at investing sites.

Unwinding a bit from classical music – e.g., transitioned from being on the board of directors for a local ballet company to a less demanding advisory role; became less active in the Cactus Pear Chamber Music Festival; and so on. Also began listening less, simply because I began...

Re-learning acoustic guitar – which I basically ignored for the 30 years I was immersed in classical music (c.1978-2011). In my teens and 20s I used to play for friends, at coffeehouses in Austin, and later just at parties. Going back felt like being reunited with an old flame, but it also pushed my listening in the direction of folk, older rock, and singer/songwriter repertoire. Online, I’ve been hanging around (but honestly not posting much) at Acoustic Guitar Forum.

Retiring – which, honestly, has been confused with behaviors revolving around the pandemic...meaning it just ain’t as fun as I expected it to be. At least, not yet. My retirement “plan” (HAH!) was supposed to be all about songwriting and further refining my acoustic guitar chops...though truth be told, I think I may be pushing my luck at trying for a second career as a performing rock star or folk sensation. Oh sure, I do have that awesome half-octave vocal range, but still...

NOW I’m hoping that, with a bit more time on my hands, singer/songwriter efforts and classical listening can coexist amicably. That’s why I’ve come meandering back to the CMG fold. Don’t know if I’ll feel capable of adding much to discussions, being as rusty as I am on the topic. But I’ll lurk a bit, re-learn and re-listen to old favorite performances, and maybe trade a few quips with the folks here.

Thanks for having me. It was quite gratifying to know that my name and password still got me on board!
Cheers,
Dirk

NOTE to Lance or Corlyss...sorry if I'm wasting classical music bandwidth talking about off-topic stuff. Feel free to boot me over to the Pub if that's a more suitable venue.

Welcome back, dirkronk. Is your handle a nod to the great 'Dave van Ronk'? You did mention folk music, which also are a passion of mine.
If memory serves, which sometimes it doesn't, I believe that you were the one who steered me on to the ideal jewel-case replacement plastic sleeves which I have not run out of yet. (Partly because most purchases now take place in the form of boxes.) In any case, welcome back. Corlyss has not been seen in some years, btw.

[dirkronk]

Welcome back, dirkronk. Is your handle a nod to the great 'Dave van Ronk'?

Hi slofstra.
I do know about Dave van Ronk, but no, Ronk is just my family name. Near as I can tell, we never used the "van" but my records only go back to my great-great-grandfather (on my dad's side). "Van" of course typically indicates an originating place name, and an online friend from Europe finally helped me discover the tiny town of Roncq, which is in France but only a few kilometers from the border with Belgium. Makes sense as that side of the family has lived in the low countries (mainly the Netherlands) pretty much forever. My Opa (grandfather) was born in Zaandam and eventually ended up in the US in 1928...a long and circuitous route and a fascinating story.

If memory serves, which sometimes it doesn't, I believe that you were the one who steered me on to the ideal jewel-case replacement plastic sleeves which I have not run out of yet. (Partly because most purchases now take place in the form of boxes.)

Ah yes...the Jazz Loft sleeves. I bought a ton of 'em and used all I had. Haven't tried to buy any recently, so I don't know if those are still available.

In any case, welcome back. Corlyss has not been seen in some years, btw.

Thanks. And I didn't know about Corlyss...just saw her name still listed on the main page to this site and figured she was still around.

Cheers,
Dirk

[premont]

Can't figure out why we lose some of our CMGers other than going to the Great Beyond. We've been online for years and are stable, kind, informed, and willing to listen to anybody! One would think — with the pandemic — that we would have more and more classical music lovers. How do we get some of those back from GMG? Do you have any connections with these folks? Nothing wrong with visiting both forums. Cheers! From your point of view, how DO we stack up against GMG in comparison?

Actually many visit both forums. But many haven't the time for more than one forum. As to myself I think the reason, why I for some time have visited GMG the most, is, that my primary musical interests are Early music meaning music from 1000 to 1750 (the year of JS Bach's death). And I have for some time been very much into renaissance and baroque keyboard music. And the interest for these things seems rather small at CMG. But I have also great interests in other music, and as to classical music and on my interest in the composers is particularly rooted in their piano music, piano being the instrument I learned from childhood on. This is also what brings me back to CMG, because there is a large number of kind, enthusiastic members here, many of whom also are very knowledgeable about piano music.

[slofstra]

Welcome back, dirkronk. Is your handle a nod to the great 'Dave van Ronk'?

Hi slofstra.
I do know about Dave van Ronk, but no, Ronk is just my family name. Near as I can tell, we never used the "van" but my records only go back to my great-great-grandfather (on my dad's side). "Van" of course typically indicates an originating place name, and an online friend from Europe finally helped me discover the tiny town of Roncq, which is in France but only a few kilometers from the border with Belgium. Makes sense as that side of the family has lived in the low countries (mainly the Netherlands) pretty much forever. My Opa (grandfather) was born in Zaandam and eventually ended up in the US in 1928...a long and circuitous route and a fascinating story.

If memory serves, which sometimes it doesn't, I believe that you were the one who steered me on to the ideal jewel-case replacement plastic sleeves which I have not run out of yet. (Partly because most purchases now take place in the form of boxes.)

Ah yes...the Jazz Loft sleeves. I bought a ton of 'em and used all I had. Haven't tried to buy any recently, so I don't know if those are still available.

In any case, welcome back. Corlyss has not been seen in some years, btw.

Thanks. And I didn't know about Corlyss...just saw her name still listed on the main page to this site and figured she was still around.

Cheers,
Dirk

Digressing a bit here, but my own background is also Dutch, and I happened to spend a day in the Zaandam area 2 years ago on a trip. Search youtube on "drone Zaandam" or "drone Zaanse Schans" and you'll find all kinds of great footage of this area of the country, famous for preserving a battery of legacy windmills.

[dirkronk]

Digressing a bit here, but my own background is also Dutch, and I happened to spend a day in the Zaandam area 2 years ago on a trip. Search youtube on "drone Zaandam" or "drone Zaanse Schans" and you'll find all kinds of great footage of this area of the country, famous for preserving a battery of legacy windmills.

Thanks for this, slofstra!
As for those "legacy windmills" that every schoolkid can recognize as iconically Dutch, my great-grandfather Jan Ronk was actually a miller at one of these in the late 1800s and early 1900s. He died in 1921, just before my Opa and Opoe got married (so my Opoe had to wear a black wedding dress as part of the mourning tradition!).
Cheers,
Dirk

[slofstra]

If that was in the Zaandam area, then possibly they were a part of a very interesting Protestant sect who ran all the windmills in the area. Heard all about it from the local residents.
These are all industrial windmills used for fabrication, milling, et cetera, as opposed to simply pumping water back out to the sea, so your great grandfather as a miller makes sense.
Just to keep this honest, if you do go, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw is not all that far away and well worth a visit.

[dirkronk]

If that was in the Zaandam area, then possibly they were a part of a very interesting Protestant sect who ran all the windmills in the area. <SNIP> These are all industrial windmills used for fabrication, milling, et cetera, as opposed to simply pumping water back out to the sea, so your great grandfather as a miller makes sense.

Most likely, he milled grain. I say that because his eldest son (my Opa, also named Dirk Ronk) was apprenticed at very young age to a baker (a mill customer perhaps?) and eventually became a master pastry chef. All part of the Dutch Guild system (so my father told me).

As for the "interesting Protestant sect" part...dunno. Opa wasn't a big one for talking religion; I got the impression that as a kid he was raised in some offshoot of the Dutch Reformed church, but he was a lifelong Mason as well. He also married my Opoe, who was devout Catholic (Italian father/Belgian mother). In fact, the difference in faiths led to the family's emigration from Holland.

In the mid-1920s, Opoe and Opa ran a small retail bakery in Apeldoorn, which was about half Catholic/half Protestant. So one day, the local priest dropped by to get Opa to commit to sending his kids (my dad and aunt) to Catholic school. Opa told him that public schools would do...that they were raising the kids to have good morals and a good education so they could choose which church to join when they got old enough to decide for themselves. The priest got insistent -- either Opa would send the kids to Catholic school or the priest would make sure Opa's bakery got no Catholic business. Well, you did NOT threaten my Opa, so he told the priest where to get off and, sure enough, no more Catholic bread and pastry buyers.

Opa sent Opoe, my dad and aunt to live with her parents in Mol, Belgium. Meanwhile, being unable to get on the Dutch quota to immigrate to the US quickly, Opa went to Canada and became head pastry chef at the Banff resort hotel from 1925 to 1928. Winters, when the hotel shut down (the resort didn't have ski runs, etc., in those years), Opa would go to Vancouver and work as head pastry chef at the Vancouver Country Club. Once he had full Canadian citizenship, he could legally immigrate into the US (no US quota on Canadians at the time), so in mid 1928 he gave notice at Banff, traveled to Long Island, NY, and sent for Opoe and the kids to join him. Just in time for them to get settled before the depression started! (But I'll end the story here for the nonce.)


Cheers,
Dirk

[Seán]

Hi Lance, Corlyss, et al.

'Sup?
Dirk here...reporting in after a number of months offline.
Well, maybe a few years.
Wow, OK, make that a decade. (Really?)

So...what did I miss?


Dirk
(...hoping to say "hi" once more to Holden, georgeb, Heck, Que, Mandryka, Cheniston (violinland) and countless other online buds of long ago. Missed you guys!)

Hello Dirk, from one who drifts in and out of this lovely site. Unfortunately the lovely Cheniston died a few years ago, this site has lost some really good friends and contributors.
I do remember you.

[dirkronk]

Hello Dirk, from one who drifts in and out of this lovely site. Unfortunately the lovely Cheniston died a few years ago, this site has lost some really good friends and contributors.
I do remember you.

Sorry to hear about Cheniston. Not really surprised (he was getting up there in age, as we all are), and I did fear that he’d passed when I found the Violinlands website shut down. But I have fond memories of his amazing knowledge about violins and violinists...and especially his generosity in sharing that with us. A truly kind soul. Thanks for letting me know, Sean.

Dirk

[slofstra]

If that was in the Zaandam area, then possibly they were a part of a very interesting Protestant sect who ran all the windmills in the area. <SNIP> These are all industrial windmills used for fabrication, milling, et cetera, as opposed to simply pumping water back out to the sea, so your great grandfather as a miller makes sense.

Most likely, he milled grain. I say that because his eldest son (my Opa, also named Dirk Ronk) was apprenticed at very young age to a baker (a mill customer perhaps?) and eventually became a master pastry chef. All part of the Dutch Guild system (so my father told me).

As for the "interesting Protestant sect" part...dunno. Opa wasn't a big one for talking religion; I got the impression that as a kid he was raised in some offshoot of the Dutch Reformed church, but he was a lifelong Mason as well. He also married my Opoe, who was devout Catholic (Italian father/Belgian mother). In fact, the difference in faiths led to the family's emigration from Holland.

In the mid-1920s, Opoe and Opa ran a small retail bakery in Apeldoorn, which was about half Catholic/half Protestant. So one day, the local priest dropped by to get Opa to commit to sending his kids (my dad and aunt) to Catholic school. Opa told him that public schools would do...that they were raising the kids to have good morals and a good education so they could choose which church to join when they got old enough to decide for themselves. The priest got insistent -- either Opa would send the kids to Catholic school or the priest would make sure Opa's bakery got no Catholic business. Well, you did NOT threaten my Opa, so he told the priest where to get off and, sure enough, no more Catholic bread and pastry buyers.

Opa sent Opoe, my dad and aunt to live with her parents in Mol, Belgium. Meanwhile, being unable to get on the Dutch quota to immigrate to the US quickly, Opa went to Canada and became head pastry chef at the Banff resort hotel from 1925 to 1928. Winters, when the hotel shut down (the resort didn't have ski runs, etc., in those years), Opa would go to Vancouver and work as head pastry chef at the Vancouver Country Club. Once he had full Canadian citizenship, he could legally immigrate into the US (no US quota on Canadians at the time), so in mid 1928 he gave notice at Banff, traveled to Long Island, NY, and sent for Opoe and the kids to join him. Just in time for them to get settled before the depression started! (But I'll end the story here for the nonce.)


Cheers,
Dirk

Fascinating. My own family journey took us through Alberta as well, although I've lived in Ontario since 1967. I still have a large extended family there, and our daughter has settled in Edmonton.

[dirkronk]

Fascinating. My own family journey took us through Alberta as well, although I've lived in Ontario since 1967. I still have a large extended family there, and our daughter has settled in Edmonton.

Small world! So were you born in Holland or Canada? And when did your family journey take place? I often wondered how it would have been to grow up in Canada, had Opa not been set on bringing the family to the US. I have never gotten to visit Banff, for instance, but really want to. (I think I'll start dropping hints to my wife, who seemed amenable to taking the famous cross-Canada train trip before all the pandemic stuff happened.)

I do have pictures from Opa's time there...Banff looked like it must have been the equivalent of a "Disneyland" for the rich and famous of the time...fancy hotel rooms, great food, mountain scenery and real "cowboys and Indians" to stare at! One photo is my Opa in chef's apron and short toque, taking a cigarette break outside, while behind him is a line of men on horseback: Indians in full warbonnet regalia and cowboys in 10-gallon hats, apparently ready to put on a parade for arriving resort guests.

Cheers,
Dirk

[barney]

What a great pic! I'm sure a local museum would be interested in that, if you had it copied.

[slofstra]

Fascinating. My own family journey took us through Alberta as well, although I've lived in Ontario since 1967. I still have a large extended family there, and our daughter has settled in Edmonton.

Small world! So were you born in Holland or Canada? And when did your family journey take place? I often wondered how it would have been to grow up in Canada, had Opa not been set on bringing the family to the US. I have never gotten to visit Banff, for instance, but really want to. (I think I'll start dropping hints to my wife, who seemed amenable to taking the famous cross-Canada train trip before all the pandemic stuff happened.)

I do have pictures from Opa's time there...Banff looked like it must have been the equivalent of a "Disneyland" for the rich and famous of the time...fancy hotel rooms, great food, mountain scenery and real "cowboys and Indians" to stare at! One photo is my Opa in chef's apron and short toque, taking a cigarette break outside, while behind him is a line of men on horseback: Indians in full warbonnet regalia and cowboys in 10-gallon hats, apparently ready to put on a parade for arriving resort guests.

Cheers,
Dirk

I was born in the province of Groningen in northern Holland but left at the age of 5 when my own parents emigrated to Alberta, in 1959. My grandfather and most of my uncles and aunts left in 1952. In 1967 my parents left our extended family in Alberta behind and moved to Ontario. I never liked the Toronto suburbs where my parents lived, and at age 18 attended the University of Waterloo, and I've been in the Kitchener-Waterloo area ever since.

In 2018, I bought a rail pass and spent a month traversing the country by train. I did blog about some of the experience.
https://gesprek.net/2018/08/02/via-rail-whats-it-like/

Thanks to Facebook and the Internet I'm more connected to the extended family in both Alberta and the Netherlands than I've ever been. Also, our oldest daughter has lived in Edmonton after attending law school there. She has focused in recent years on writing books for the young adult market. She has had two books published by Harper Collins and her third is out this Fall with Abrams. Anyway, that has also brought us to Alberta fairly frequently.
http://annapriemaza.com/books/

Of course, travel isn't great right now, but there's also a luxury class train that goes through the Rockies from Calgary to Vancouver. Normal passenger service is quite an adventure though. One word of advice if you use it: never, ever make a 'same day' connection at any point. If the trains run on time, then something is wrong.

There are many options for seeing the Rockies' area, and other parts of Canada. One nice way is to rent a condo in one of the resort towns (like Radium Hot Springs or Invermere) and combine with a car rental. I particularly like Radium Hot Springs, B.C. for that purpose which gives you access to Kootenay, Banff and Yoho national parks. Mind you, the most gorgeous area is around Jasper and much to be preferred over the Banff area.

[dirkronk]

I was born in the province of Groningen in northern Holland but left at the age of 5 when my own parents emigrated to Alberta, in 1959.

Wow, a true "northerner" (just looked on a map).

Thanks to Facebook and the Internet I'm more connected to the extended family in both Alberta and the Netherlands than I've ever been.

I guess I should be, but the only one I know who's still alive is my cousin Immy who lives in The Hague...and I'm a terribly inconsistent correspondent. Plenty of other, younger and more distant relations still in the Netherlands and Belgium, but have never had real contact with them. Other parts of the family have scattered everywhere...Northwest US, Australia.

Thanks for the tips about Canadian train travel. Just a pipe dream right now, anyway, but it still sounds like it could be fun.

Dirk

[Lance]

Premont, yours was an excellent response. More power to all of us interested in the music we love on any board. Our Corylss was also interested in your areas of music, but she abandoned us in order to fulfill her life's other ambitions. Do we miss her? Of course, though I remain in touch with her from time-to-time. Given the number of classical music enthusiasts across our great (but ever-changing) globe, I was hopeful we might have more participation from other parts of the world, particularly in England, Australia, and other English-speaking countries though I am delighted with all those from other countries and we eagerly welcome them. We have also lost a number of strong CMG members due to their passings. I often think of them and miss them. I wonder, Premont, do the folks at GMG even know about us?

Can't figure out why we lose some of our CMGers other than going to the Great Beyond. We've been online for years and are stable, kind, informed, and willing to listen to anybody! One would think — with the pandemic — that we would have more and more classical music lovers. How do we get some of those back from GMG? Do you have any connections with these folks? Nothing wrong with visiting both forums. Cheers! From your point of view, how DO we stack up against GMG in comparison?

Actually many visit both forums. But many haven't the time for more than one forum. As to myself I think the reason, why I for some time have visited GMG the most, is, that my primary musical interests are Early music meaning music from 1000 to 1750 (the year of JS Bach's death). And I have for some time been very much into renaissance and baroque keyboard music. And the interest for these things seems rather small at CMG. But I have also great interests in other music, and as to classical music and on my interest in the composers is particularly rooted in their piano music, piano being the instrument I learned from childhood on. This is also what brings me back to CMG, because there is a large number of kind, enthusiastic members here, many of whom also are very knowledgeable about piano music.

[slofstra]

Premont, yours was an excellent response. More power to all of us interested in the music we love on any board. Our Corylss was also interested in your areas of music, but she abandoned us in order to fulfill her life's other ambitions. Do we miss her? Of course, though I remain in touch with her from time-to-time. Given the number of classical music enthusiasts across our great (but ever-changing) globe, I was hopeful we might have more participation from other parts of the world, particularly in England, Australia, and other English-speaking countries though I am delighted with all those from other countries and we eagerly welcome them. We have also lost a number of strong CMG members due to their passings. I often think of them and miss them. I wonder, Premont, do the folks at GMG even know about us?

Can't figure out why we lose some of our CMGers other than going to the Great Beyond. We've been online for years and are stable, kind, informed, and willing to listen to anybody! One would think — with the pandemic — that we would have more and more classical music lovers. How do we get some of those back from GMG? Do you have any connections with these folks? Nothing wrong with visiting both forums. Cheers! From your point of view, how DO we stack up against GMG in comparison?

Actually many visit both forums. But many haven't the time for more than one forum. As to myself I think the reason, why I for some time have visited GMG the most, is, that my primary musical interests are Early music meaning music from 1000 to 1750 (the year of JS Bach's death). And I have for some time been very much into renaissance and baroque keyboard music. And the interest for these things seems rather small at CMG. But I have also great interests in other music, and as to classical music and on my interest in the composers is particularly rooted in their piano music, piano being the instrument I learned from childhood on. This is also what brings me back to CMG, because there is a large number of kind, enthusiastic members here, many of whom also are very knowledgeable about piano music.

If on occasion you are speaking with Corlyss tell her that she is missed; she was both badass and had a heart of gold. In my first days on the forum, she generously shared some of her favourite EM picks with me, and sent me a reference book on EM that I still use.
Through her I first learned of the Hillier Ensemble, The Sixteen and Jordi Savall among others. Savall played here in Waterloo a few years back and I had the pleasure of attending the performance.

[premont]

Premont, yours was an excellent response. More power to all of us interested in the music we love on any board. Our Corylss was also interested in your areas of music, but she abandoned us in order to fulfill her life's other ambitions. Do we miss her? Of course, though I remain in touch with her from time-to-time. Given the number of classical music enthusiasts across our great (but ever-changing) globe, I was hopeful we might have more participation from other parts of the world, particularly in England, Australia, and other English-speaking countries though I am delighted with all those from other countries and we eagerly welcome them. We have also lost a number of strong CMG members due to their passings. I often think of them and miss them. I wonder, Premont, do the folks at GMG even know about us?

Yes, I am sure that as well as all long standing members of GMG know CMG very well. Many of them have visited CMG temporarily, others more regularily. I think the reason why some didn't stay here is based upon different interests of the members of the two fora. Many members of GMG are very much interested in EM or/and contemporary music. Such people may perhaps consider CMG a bit "conservative". But as the majority of GMG members as well as of CMG members - no matter what their other interest may be - often or even exclusively are interested in Vienna classical and Romantic music, I quite (like you) don't understand why it's only a minority from both forums, which visit both forums regularily. This is why I have decided to visit CMG more regularily. I also appreciate the polite tone of the CMG members, which actually makes moderation superfluous (except when spammers gain acces to the forum).

[Lance]

Thank you, Premont. Well stated, as usual. Based on what I see on other forums, I believe CMG is more polite and respectful, as we well should be. Now that summer is upon us, and given the long pandemic problems, we will be more "quiet" until the fall season. But we are always here, thankfully, when the mood strikes us to participate.