Lisa Hoffman and Charles Atkins

Published November 2, 2006

Today Lisa and I are meeting with my dentist—and concert pianist—Gilbert Rubin, DDS in preparation for the upcoming "Evening of Music" to benefit The Woodbury Scholarship Fund. Lisa, who has interviewed many musicians over the years—from long hairs like cellist Pablo Casals and violinist Nathan Milstein to one-hit wonders like Tiny Tim, starts right in.

"How did you get started with these concerts?" she asks.

"Cam Gardella who is president of The Woodbury Scholarship fund was in the office about 12 years ago and we were talking," Gil explains. "He needed to raise money, and I play piano, so the idea for a benefit concert came up. The first was held eleven years ago and we didn’t know if we’d have five people or fifty. We ended up with a great turnout and raised some money, as well as awareness about the scholarship fund."

"What is the scholarship for?" Lisa asks.

"It’s for local High School seniors, to help them continue their education. Various scholarships are given based on academic achievement, community service, as well as need. The fund has been around since 1975."

"How much have they raised?" I ask.

"It gives out about $60,000 a year."

"That’s quite a lot," Lisa remarks. "So tell us about this year’s concert."

"The original concept," he explains, "evolved to where we now bring in world-class talent from the surrounding area. It’s often someone from NYC who wants to introduce classical music to a greater audience. We’re very fortunate to again have Frederic Chiu, who first came into prominence about 13 years age when he was a semi-finalist in the Van Cliburn piano competition. He was let go as a semi-finalist and some of the judges walked out in protest. It became an item in the New York Times, and Frederic went on to have a very successful concert and recording career. He splits his time between Fairfield County and France and has been appearing annually as part of the Metropolitan Museum of Arts series. This past summer he was also featured at "Mostly Mozart" with the violinist Joshua Bell. At this year’s concert he’ll be performing Liszt’s Transcription of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony and he and I will play Shubert’s Divertissement à la Hongroise."

"How about your musical background?" Lisa asks. "How did you start out? Did you want to be a musician or a dentist?"

"I first wanted to be a musician," he says. "My childhood was about being a very good pianist. I started at the age of 7. My parents died through illness when I was 13 and I went to live with my older brother who was 21 at the time. My brother is Jerry Rubin who, with Abbie Hoffman, founded the Youth International Party or Yippies. He was a co-defendant in the Chicago Seven trial, and he also ran for Vice President with Eldridge Cleaver on the Peace and Freedom Party ticket."

Lisa and I do a bit of a double take, "Really? That’s quite an unusual upbringing. What came next?"

"We lived on a Kibbutz in Israel for two years and then we moved to Berkeley California in 1964 just before the beginning of the Free Speech Movement. The next six years were an incredible ride for me. I went to the University of California at Berkeley, but being Jerry Rubin’s brother was a moving experience. I was at the fore front of the anti-war movement and the counter-culture movement. Any time I visited my brother I could freely hang out with Phil Ochs, John Lennon, or Abbie Hoffman. It’s like one moment I’m twelve years old playing Little League in Cincinnati and the next I’m in a Limousine with John and Yoko."

"Were you playing music at the time?" she asks.

"I continued to play, but I was a frustrated pianist who soon quit."

"Why frustrated?" I ask.

"As a thirteen-year old I became in charge of my musical education and had to pick teachers. I noticed that when I accompanied vocal teachers or cello teachers they’d talk about ‘how to produce sound’. But when I’d work with piano teachers they would only talk about ‘softer, louder, faster or slower’. They never talked about how to create sound. And I’m sure that the difference between Vladimir Horowitz and me is not that he played passages louder or softer but that there was a different physics behind how he made the hammer hit the string to create his sound. So as a fourteen or fifteen year old I’d be leaving piano teachers every six months and telling them I wasn’t happy."

He then adds, "When Cam Gardella was in the office I had just started taking lessons again with a teacher in Fairfield County, who understood the physics of playing. In piano it’s all about how the hammer hits the string."

"So how did the dentistry start and why?" Lisa asks.

"When I was in my senior year at the University of California, there were two instances that led me to a profession other than music. One was I played a concert with Igor Stravinsky. During one of the rehearsals--in mid music--half of the orchestra walked off the stage as Stravinsky was conducting."

"Why?" she asks.

"That’s what I wanted to know," Gil says. "So I turned to somebody and asked. He told me, ‘they’re union musicians and they’re taking their ten minute break’. This was as Igor Stravinsky--this great man--was conducting. And I thought, ‘gee is that what music becomes to a professional musician?’ The other instance came when I was at a local recital and the music librarian sat down. I didn’t even know he played piano, and he proceeded to give a beautiful rendition of a Beethoven sonata. That’s when it dawned on me that the world doesn’t need another pianist. That there must be hundreds of thousands of musicians out there with something to say."

Lisa chimes in, "Now, I have to play the devil’s advocate. Why did you think the world needed another dentist?"

"Yikes!" he says, but quickly recovers. "The world can always use another healthcare professional."

As one of Gil’s patients I have to come to his defense, "There’s something to be said for a dentist who keeps up their fine-motor skills."

"I find that a lot of dentists play music," Lisa comments.

"That’s true…and it’s also true for a lot of doctors. After I graduated from Berkeley I applied and was accepted to both medical and dental schools. It was a very difficult decision. I think it’s the lifestyle of the dentist that appealed more."

"It’s a very drilling experience," Lisa puns.

"I remember one afternoon by five o’clock I had to call either the University of California medical school at San Francisco or Columbia university school of dentistry in New York and decide to become a dentist or a doctor for the rest of my life. I could have gone either way. I’ve been very happy with this, and over my 28 years as a dentist have helped thousands of people. I’m in a great community with great patients…and I get to play piano with Frederic Chiu."

"So I guess you can have your cake and eat it too." Lisa says.

"Absolutely, but afterwards" he replies, "don’t forget to brush and floss."

Featuring Frederic Chiu and Gilbert Rubin

Saturday, November 11, 2006

7:30 p.m. with reception to follow

North Congregational Church in Woodbury, CT.

Admission is $15.00 and tickets can be purchased at the Woodbury Drug Store, Canfield Corner Pharmacy, Michael’s Jeweler’s (Southbury Plaza) and at the door.

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