Pfister pianist unearths memories through his music

On a recent Saturday evening, Cardinal Lemoine brought her children, Iris and Griffin, to the Pfister’s Lobby Bar to listen to Dr. Jeffrey Hollander play the piano.

Both of her children take piano lessons, but the main reason she wanted them to experience Hollander’s playing was because of her father / their grandfather.

Cardinal’s father, Bernard Lemoine, passed away on January 19, 2013.

He was Professor Emeritus of Music at the University of Mary Washington, in Fredericksburg, VA. He taught piano and theory, focusing mainly on the 18th and 19th centuries, the period of Bach, Beethoven and Brahms.

“He instilled in his students an appreciation for the Russian pianists, notably Rachmaninoff and Prokofiev,” says Cardinal.

One of Cardinal’s most amazing memories of her father was hearing him perform Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto Number 2 at the University of Mary Washington.

Bernard studied at Oberlin College, the University of Illinois and Catholic University and wrote his dissertation on Franz Liszt. When Cardinal was 19, she accompanied him to Budapest for a Liszt convention, where she heard some of the most incredible piano playing.

“So when I read that Dr. Hollander had received his doctorate from Gyorgy Sandor who studied with Bela Barok in the tradition of Franz Liszt, I felt compelled to hear him play,” says Cardinal, who is a therapist and lives with her family in Milwaukee’s Riverwest neighborhood.

Dr. Hollander had also performed at the Franz Liszt Museum in Budapest, where Cardinal had been with her father nearly 30 years ago.

“What I miss most of all is my father’s quiet presence,” says Cardinal. “I felt such a connection to my father, as I sat with my children in the Pfister lobby, listening to Dr. Hollander play beautiful music on the piano. I know he would have enjoyed being there with us, and I felt in many ways that he was.”