We lost a giant of the West Michigan musical world, with the passing of Joan Conway on April 30 at the age of 90—one whose influence and inspiration reached far and wide. Highly resepcted nationwide as both a pianist and as a teacher—and often described as a "force of nature"—Joan Conway is remembered for her over 30 years on the music faculty of Hope College, for her great advocacy of chamber music, including her many years at the helm of the Chamber Music Festival of Saugatuck and more recently as the founder and director of the popular Free@Three Sunday afternoon chamber music series in Holland. Also a past president of the Michigan Music Teachers Association, she was an individual of many parts and passions, and will be greatly missed. With National Teacher Appreciation Week as a further backdrop, we'll remember Joan Conway on Wednesday afternoon's Classical Music with Foley Schuler with several of her performances at the piano with violinist Mihai Craioveanu, as well as a performance by the Hirsch-Pinkas Piano Duo of a work commissioned by Joan Conway or her to perform with her longtime duo piano partner, Charles Aschbrenner, at the 1982 March Festival in Holland, Michgan—the Holland Waltzes by Daniel Pinkham.
You can hear Foley Schuler's musical selections—and stories behind the music—every weekday afternoon from 1 until 4 on Blue Lake Public Radio.
