The world has lost a true musical legend and the symphony has lost a close and dear friend in Maestro Previn. I was so fortunate to play under his baton many times as a member of the Vienna Philharmonic and recall his gentle approach. He was humorous, friendly and a natural partner in music-making. When the symphony played at Carnegie Hall, Maestro Previn came backstage to share how happy and pleased he was to hear the outstanding playing of the orchestra. My heart goes out to his family and to all of the musicians he touched over the years. He will be greatly missed.

The beginnings of my musical journey with Previn began as a student at Tanglewood in 1981, performing Strauss's Alpine Symphony with him in Boston in 1982, then another Alpine Symphony with Pittsburgh in 1991. (This also happened to be former Principal Trumpet George Vosburgh's audition week.) I could name multiple programs we performed with him in Pittsburgh, but feel the real legacy of André was how he treated musicians. My connection with André began as a maestro, which led to colleague, to eventually my friend. That's a musical journey I will always cherish.

Many years ago, I was so fortunate to have performed and recorded the Trio for Piano, Oboe, and Bassoon that André composed with André on the piano and Nancy Goeres on the bassoon. André also generously invited Nancy and me to travel with him to perform the Trio in Martha's Vineyard at a benefit concert for the Old Whalers Church in Edgartown. Then he flew us all to the West Coast to perform it at the La Jolla Festival. What an incredible experience! We had many meals and laughs together and I will always treasure that precious time in my life.

In my entire career, one of the most inspiring and exciting performances for me was the production we played of André's brand new opera, A Streetcar Named Desire, with André conducting. The premiere was in San Francisco, but the PSO played the opera, I think, within that first year. It was beautiful, haunting music. André was a genius musician who was equally gifted as a player and a composer. What an honor to have known him and to have worked with him so closely!

The world lost a musical giant! What an amazing impact he had on the musical life in our city and the world! He brought new music, English music, outstanding new guest soloists, his own compositions and he energized our orchestra and our city. Heinz Hall subscription concerts were sold out throughout his entire tenure.

How fortunate for me that he hired me as the Principal Harpist of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in 1977. I was 23 years old. It was André's second year in Pittsburgh and my first year, and I was shocked when he agreed to come to my humble apartment for Thanksgiving dinner that year. I had no idea how to cook a turkey and had to make multiple long-distance calls to my mother to accomplish this daunting task! (My mother, Carol Van Hoesen, had been a cellist in Peter Marenbloom's youth orchestra in Los Angeles and remembered so well how André Previn as a young boy was the frequent piano soloist with her orchestra, including playing Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue.

André called me "Gretch" from the podium; no one else did. He and I collaborated on numerous harp concertos including the Ginastera Concerto, the Rodrigo Concerto Serenata, the Mozart Concerto for Flute and Harp and the world premiere of his own Concerto for Harp in 1988, commissioned by the Pittsburgh Symphony. André came to conduct his own Harp Concerto, an amazing experience for me, and it represents a big addition to the harp repertoire.

My most embarrassing moment was a time in rehearsal when I asked André to please stand up since I was having trouble seeing him from the back of the orchestra. He had been standing all along! Fortunately, he did not take offense. He was just not that tall.

For sure André had the best ears of anyone I can recall on the podium. He once asked me about the first two notes in the harp part at the start of Debussy's La Mer. These notes are played where the harp strings go from gut to metal in the low register, 5th and 6th octave. He actually heard the difference between the gut and the metal strings and was hoping for equal sound! I can assure you that no conductor has ever heard that difference.

What an impact André had on our orchestra, our city, and the world! His early days in Hollywood, composing, arranging and playing jazz, writing film scores, his impeccable piano playing, his leadership skills as a music director and conductor, his worldwide reputation and taking the symphony all over the globe on tour, and his compositions were all amazing. His ability to play Mozart concertos and conduct at the same time was stunning. His violin concerto played in Pittsburgh by Anne Sophie Mutter, his scores for the Tom Stoppard theater piece Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, and his opera A Streetcar Named Desire were only a few that stand out. He was a consummate musician and friend, and will be so missed.

My first performance of the Shostakovich Viola Sonata was with André in 1984. Incidentally, I am playing it this week and will dedicate the performance to him. I most recently saw him in November when we had dinner, and we both remembered our performance together. What great memories. He wrote me also a wonderful note, which I never forgot. André was truly one of a kind and won't be replaced. I am so grateful for his friendship.

In 1979, during the time he was Music Director of the symphony, André Previn published a book called ORCHESTRA, which described the life of an orchestral musician through interviews with players in American and British orchestras. As a young boy who already aspired to make a career in a symphony orchestra, I was obsessed with this book, which gave me an inside glimpse of the joys and challenges of this very specialized field. So, many years later in 2012, when I had the opportunity to premiere Previn's Triple Concerto for Horn, Trumpet, and Tuba, with my colleagues William Caballero and George Vosburgh, and the PSO under Previn's own baton, it was also a chance for me to bring in my dog-eared copy of the book for him to sign. I was glad for the chance to tell him how much it had captured my imagination. I thought he might find it silly, but he was very gracious.

André Previn's performances of George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue and Concerto in F were magical! He had a singular talent with an uncanny sense of rhythmic suppleness. He was so gifted across multiple genres.

When I was a student at the University of Southern California (in 1985), Previn, then Music Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, came to USC to give a lecture about orchestral auditions from a Music Director's perspective. I learned many valuable insights from that lecture and when, some 20-plus years later, I had the opportunity to share my memories of that experience with Previn, his response was, "And how did it all work out for you?" His was a singular wit, quick and brilliant, and I will always treasure that day at USC, as well as the too few opportunities I had to make music with him.

When I joined the Pittsburgh Symphony in 1981, I found an orchestra energized by André's presence. André Previn was one of those rare musical renaissance man who was equally at home as a conductor, composer, classical pianist and ppjazz artist. He brought a new energy to our orchestra and reemphasized the music of Elgar, Ravel, Rimsky-Korsakov and Rachmaninoff to name but a few. His style as a conductor was fairly relaxed-always letting us play but emphasizing a very high standard. He had impeccable taste, and a wickedly clever sense of humor which would come out in rehearsals at the most unexpected moments.

As a conductor, my favorite musical memory of him was playing his "signature" piece, the Rachmaninoff Symphony No. 2 and watching him remove his glasses and close his eyes while conducting the slow movement.

As a pianist/conductor, two performances stand out: accompanying him while he played the Mozart Piano Concerto No. 24 with a grace, fluidity and seeming ease that was remarkable. And lastly, his rendition of Gershwin's Concerto in F which was the perfect combination of elegance and jazziness. He was a true genius who really put his stamp on our orchestra and I am grateful to have had the opportunity to work with him.

André and I shared a common interest in jazz. In one of our conversations on the subject he asked who my favorite pianist was. I said Bill Evans and second would be Oscar Peterson. He said Peterson developed his style by listening to Art Tatum. I told him that I didn't know any of Tatum's work. The next morning at rehearsal there was a Tatum LP on my chair.

I mourn the loss of André Previn, composer, conductor, pianist, author, my mentor, and friend. Although not initially hired by him, we both arrived in Pittsburgh in 1976. I had come directly from The Curtis Institute as assistant principal cellist. A few years later, he took great risk in hiring a very young woman as his principal cellist. If not for his encouragement, I would not be where I am today. I am forever grateful!

Under his direction, I learned the orchestral repertoire. He had a fabulous set of ears and taught me the importance of listening acutely to all of the surrounding instruments. And what a fabulous and versatile pianist he was!

One of my most favorite musical memories was any time that André played and conducted a Mozart Piano Concerto with Chamber Orchestra. Sublime. I was also fortunate to play for a number of years in the Previn Greenberg Williams Piano Trio, (along with then associate concertmaster Herbert Greenberg). We would always laugh when André would breeze into rehearsal, direct from a long flight, saying "It'll be terrible-I haven't practiced in months." He then would rip off the fastest, note-perfect Scherzo from the Mendelssohn d minor Trio, totally from memory.

I was also privileged to be invited by him to travel to London to perform the Dvořák Concerto with the Royal Philharmonic. We also recorded a televised performance of the Brahms Double Concerto for the BBC. So many of the "firsts" in my life were with André's collaboration. He was a brilliant man, yet very human, personable and kind, with a wicked sense of humor. There will be a great vacancy in the musical world.

I had the honor to work with André Previn over the past 40 years in both the Chicago Symphony and the Pittsburgh Symphony and also had the great pleasure of knowing him personally. André was a gentleman and a brilliant musician who always produced wonderful performances.

One of his greatest compositions in my opinion is A Streetcar Named Desire. I recall that while he was writing Streetcar, he came to me expressing interest in the low range of the trumpet. He asked me to play a series of the lowest notes on the instrument just so he could hear the timbre. These were then incorporated into a trumpet solo in the opera. I was very pleased to have the opportunity to play that solo when he conducted the opera in Pittsburgh. He will be greatly missed.