By Lyn Bronson
Fr. Rick Matters
Last night something very special happened in Carmel as a new concert series, “Music at All Saints Church,†presented its first event, a piano recital by the brilliant young Hungarian pianist Péter Tóth.
It took a lot of planning and the right set of circumstances to make this happen. Perhaps the first in the chain of events was the Church’s acquisition two years ago of a fine Steinway concert grand piano from distinguished San Mateo pianist Hélène Wickett. Next came the positive support from All Saints Church Rector, Father Rick Matters, Director of Music, Jean Widaman and All Saints Church Vestry members. The final catalyst for this inaugural concert came from Carmel pianist and teacher Barbara Ruzicka, who had heard Tóth in his dazzling San Francisco debut in 2007. Ruzicka felt a personal connection since Tóth had been the recipient of the Sari Biro Memorial Prize at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest and Ruzicka had been a piano pupil of the late Sari Biro in San Francisco twenty years ago.
