Beethoven: The 9 Symphonies CD

Also featured are the 26 Chopin preludes which were the inspiration for both Gershwin and Still.

ROY EATON BIONO STUMBLING BLOCKS!STEPPING STONES!!!I am in my fourth lifetime. All 4 began with apparent stumbling blocks. Handicap #1? I was born "Negro". Major handicap in USA 1930. But thanks to the vision of a powerful Jamaican mother, I was told to overcome prejudice I needed to do 200% to get credit for 100%. So that became my lifetime mantra. Handicap#2: I lost half of the first joint of my right fourth finger in an accident when I was 3. Yet I had the audacity to aspire to become a classical concert pianist. Mom encouraged me but cautioned me to develop other skills. After winning my first piano competition, I played in Carnegie Hall in 1937. Lily Pons presented my Gold Medal. Music & Art High School was a peak experience in my first lifetime. The nurturing atmosphere, my friendly unprejudiced classmates, the shared aspiration for uncharted achievement, and an unequivocal belief that anything was possible!It was truly a special world whose impact on my life continues.

I never thought when I entered CCNY because it was free, that I would spend my Junior Year like some rich kid at the University of Zurich in Switzerland. But thanks to Mom's "200% principle", being 3rd in my sophomore class of 3000, I was interviewed for and won the Naumburg Scholarship from CCNY to do just that in 1948. Did I bust out in Europe! First time away from home. First girl friend. First sex. First concert tour. Master classes with Edwin Fischer (along with Alfred Brendel). June 1950 was quite a month. I simultaneously graduated from CCNY, B.S.S. magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, and the Manhattan School of Music B.M.; won the first Kosciuszko Foundation Chopin Award (Van Cliburn won it in 1952): and received a fellowship for graduate study in Musicology from Yale University. After successful debuts with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1951 and at New York's Town Hall in 1952, Uncle Sam brought the career to a screeching halt in 1953 for two years during the Korean conflict. I left the Army in 1955 as 'Roy Who?' STUMBLING BLOCK? Of course not! I applied for and was hired as composer/copywriter by Young & Rubicam advertising. I was the first Black in a general market creative position in advertising. Mom's "200%" principle worked again. Creating landmark jingles and campaigns for Beefaroni, Kent Cigarettes, Gulf Oil, the "Brighter Day" soap opera theme etc. catapulted me to the forefront of this unexpected arena.