Sixty people over 60, plus a few young relatives, filled the atrium lobby at Sage Living on a Friday in late July to hear a musical debut from one of their own. Front and center under expansive windows overlooking the National Elk Refuge sat composer Carrie Saladino, surrounded by family. That included her 10-year-old daughter and father, who traveled from China to hear the first rendition of “Family Portraits,” Saladino’s classical string quartet arrangement.
Rhythm and melody have been constant sources of light in Saladino’s life. She received a master’s degree in music education from Hunter College in New York. Now she’s been diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disease, also known as Machado-Joseph disease, that makes her muscles constrict involuntarily. Her vocal cords can still produce some sound, but she can’t stand, write or sing the way she used to.
That means communication requires a few tools. Instead of talking, she spells out key words by pointing to letters on a laminated alphabet. Sometimes the sheet of paper she’s pointing to is a two-dimensional print of a few octaves of a keyboard. Her humor also shows up in her hospital badge, featuring a universally understood finger. A software called Sibelius (named after the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius) helps notate and transcribe new projects.
But she still has some innate gifts that need no gadgets.
Music therapist Hilary Camino sheepishly admits she’s jealous of Saladino’s perfect pitch. Camino sometimes acts as a scribe. Saladino will point to a note on the keyboard that Camino plays. The pair go back and forth to bring to the page what Saladino hears in her head.
“When Carrie first started coming to music therapy, she would bring pieces that she’d written out and had transcribed for me by hand, just on staff paper,” said Camino. Sitting by Camino’s side, Saladino affirmed with an emphatic head nod.
Saladino was raised in Jackson Hole with her two sisters, Julie and Vicki. Their father, Tony, has been a piano player in the valley for more than four decades. The global traveler wound up in China after he traced the travel route of Italian explorer Marco Polo. His daughter’s compositions have debuted locally before, but her small gestures make just as big an impact, Camino said as she addressed her friend.
“You wave hello to everyone, and you’re not just saying hello, but you see people. A lot of us are so busy that we don’t see each other, but that’s one of the things I admire about you,” she said.
This summer, Atlanta harpist Elisabeth Remy Johnson performed another of Saladino’s compositions, “Transitions,” at St. John’s Episcopal Church. That was part of Grand Teton Music Festival’s annual “On the Road” series, which brings live chamber music to Teton County each summer.
The 15-minute “Family Portraits” quartet consists of four movements, each inspired by a different immediate family member. It opened with a movement for her mother, the violins, viola and cello starting in unison with sweeping phrases, easily imagined as the tension and teamwork of a family. Things get more tense – or adventurous – in movements for her dad and sister.
This summer’s Saladino compositions span decades. It was as a music undergraduate that Saladino first wrote “Transitions.” Music Festival educator Meaghan Heinrich recounted how the composition came to life.
“You probably had it written out, but we didn’t have that on your computer, so we did some digging. Couldn’t find it and you were like, ‘Well, I have this recording on my phone,’” she said. The Music Festival then transcribed the recording into sheet music for harpist Johnson.
“Even though we can’t have a typical conversation, I feel like when I watch you listen to your music, and I know that I’m a part of bringing that music [to life], I feel like that’s how we have a conversation,” said Heinrich.
Listen above for KHOL’s full conversation with Carrie Saladino, Hilary Camino and Meaghan Heinrich.
Support for this arts and cultural coverage comes from the Wyoming Arts Council.
