About Marion Rubinstein

I spent my earliest childhood in a musical family in England, and moved to Palo Alto just before my 13th birthday. By that time I was a fairly accomplished pianist, and was further nourished by attending pre-proposition-13 Palo Alto schools - Jordan and Palo Alto High - where the music programs were an integral part of the curriculum and where orchestras and choirs took first prizes in competitions all over the state. In my senior year at Paly, I discovered the recorder and early music, which took me to Stanford for my university years.

After Stanford I spent nearly two years in England exploring my roots while earning my Master of Music degree at the University of London. A lucky chance took me to South Africa, where I spent three months playing medieval music at a luxury hotel in Johannesburg, and was exposed for the first time to the immense suffering that the black Africans had to endure. Those first images of hardship have stayed with me ever since.

I returned to the Bay Area in 1975 and started teaching and performing on a career basis. My husband Jonathan Salzedo and I formed our ensemble, The Albany Consort, in which I play recorder, harpsichord and organ. Music has become the mainstay of my life.

But other than music I have serious passions and hobbies. The first is cats. My cats are named Presto and Vivace (Viva), but their musical interest is pretty limited. They are 14 and 13 years old now, and sometimes appear at lessons, particularly at meal times.

I also love knitting, books (no surprise to anyone who comes here and sees my bookshelves), and puzzles, especially crosswords and Sudoku. I try and keep up with the New York Times puzzlers, and usually fit somewhere in the middle in skill level, a nice place to be! For the past several years I have been taking history classes through the UC Santa Cruz extension program. My Thursday nights have become very special to me.

I am very proud of my husband, Jonathan Salzedo, and my children. Simon, age 26, is a fifth year graduate student in mathematics at Stanford. He is extremely fond of music, especially listening to it, and also plays piano and cello. Laura, age 23, is launching her career in Sacramento, teaching and performing. She specializes in Baroque and modern violins, and also is accomplished on viola and piano.