Finally, I had a conversation with Miss Lois (Kirschenbaum). It was like meeting Yoda. I've been going to Met performances and Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall concerts for nearly five years and I hardly remember being in an audience that hasn't included Lois. She is a character to love, staunch in her devotion, dedicated to seeing everything possible, having her mementos signed to prove she was there. She recently celebrated her 50th anniversary of seeing the Metropolitan Opera, which I congratulated her on, which coincided with her 75th Birthday. Her friend Matthew Epstein (former artistic director of the Chicago Lyric) threw her a party, "It was his brainchild." At that party,
a who's who of opera performers (including Renée Fleming, Marilyn Horne, James Levine, Aprile Millo, Sam Ramey, Julius Rudel, Eugene Kohn, Victor De Renzi, Elisabeth Carron, and so many more) joined in the celebration and sang "Happy Birthday" to her which was, she said, "beyond thrilling."...
