OMNIPRESENT

posted by James Reel

    Yesterday afternoon I did a telephone interview with 18-year-old violinist Caitlin Tulley, of whom I'd frankly never heard until the editor of Strings magazine asked me to write about her a few days ago. (Her Celtic first name is prounounced "KAT-lin," by the way.) She's very smart and down-to-earth and, from what I've read, exceptionally talented and musical. Two hours later I was in the Tucson Symphony office talking to George Hanson and orchestra administrators about the coming season, and there on the schedule was Caitlin Tully. I nearly gave myself whiplash from the double-take.
    Mel Gibson once said that early in his career he was "served like coffee"--brought out freely and easily into every available film project and TV talk show, getting tremendous (perhaps excessive) exposure and thereby becoming as common and familiar as morning java. If my coincidental double exposure to Caitlin Tulley in a single afternoon is any indication, she's classical music's freshly brewed pot of coffee. Let's hope that when she's finally served up in Tucson, she's not just another cup of decaf.