Dear Blog:
I'm too numb to go on very long about Arnold, at the Chelsea or anywhere. But Joan & I are so thankful he was there for these years (almost 20). Before that he was the Ludwig van Beethoven of New York, changing addresses so frequently I had to replace his Rolodex card several times over the years. And Amy and everyone watching out for him, saving his life, caring about him -- we couldn't be more happier that that's where he was. So here goes. Joan and I have been Chelsea Hotel denizens for nearly 10 years. Arnold rented both an apartment and an efficiency right next to it, and we'd rent the efficiency from him, keeping my old funky grand piano in the apartment. We worked together there, Joan and I would rehearse there for gigs, we'd audition singers for our operas using that funky old piano, and Scott Griffin - before he got a nice piano of his own - would pound out the sections of vocal score of our operas for Arnold, Arthur Miller, and later Robert Altman, as I'd send them to Arnold by fax. A great way to work. 45 years Arnold and I worked together. Our Cabaret Songs were written expressly for Joan and are done now by all kinds of singers from cabaret to classical -- not at the Chelsea though -- but our operas took form at the hotel, and so much else. Long may the Hotel Chelsea endure - it's an oasis in an increasingly cruel and uncaring world, for not only the arts but the human race. Wm Bolcom
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