Eat in Harmony

Eat in Harmony is not a cookbook. The author, a musician/conductor/lecturer, leads the reader on a journey through fascinating adventures that made his life unique and rewarding. More than an autobiography of his career as a university music professor, it touches chance meetings, history, philosophy, works of art, influential composers, revelations, and philosophy. Compelling topics like the following: "Almost murdered in a deserted underground city in Turkey", "Sibelius in a vegetable garden", "A life changing baseball accident", "Vaht gut qvestions did you ask t'day?", "1989 in Poland and Hungary: Cathedral, Crucifix, and Congregation", "Olga, Dimitri, Smolny: Soviet Union 1965, Russia 1993", "What I learned from Beethoven and a piece of wood", "What I see in the mud and scum of things", "Medieval France meets Country Western", "Mendelssohn on a bus", "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem", "On stage with the Wagners in Bayreuth", "Bach, the man who made all the wrong decisions", and many more. Throughout the book the author takes an alternate path in a series of Reflections that have formed his view of art from a Christian perspective. It also includes comments from students, colleagues, and music critics that reflect on the influence the author had on their lives. Gregory S. Athnos, author of two award-winning books, is a retired professor of music from North Park University in Chicago. His choirs performed across the United States, Canada, China, and Europe. He was guest conductor of the Pushkin Chamber Orchestra and the Estonian State Symphony in the first performances of Handel's 'Messiah' since the Bolshevik Revolution. His university classrooms were filled. Students called his lectures on music, the arts, and culture 'lessons in life'. His unique approach to the arts has garnered invitations to speak in colleges, seminaries, churches, art museums, retirement communities, Road Scholar programs, and conference centers, eliciting comments such as, "Magnificent! Electric! Inspirational." "Greg Athnos is a spellbinder!" "He is the Beethoven of lecturers." "Athnos is a dazzling, brilliant teacher. I see a deep mind here." "Incredible. Perhaps the best teacher I have ever encountered. Speaks from the heart." Eat in Harmony was the name of his father's small café. It was a gathering spot for people of all social classes, including the 'underdogs' of society. Meals were served to hobos riding the rails during the Depression, barnstorming Negro League baseball players, as well as presidents of banks and industry. The name of his café said it all, "Gather at my table. Share a meal together. Savor your conversation. Find a common humanity. Leave with newfound joy for the next hours of your life." That philosophy influenced the author in his 'eatery', his profession as a musician and teacher. It was his inspiration. The author invites you to his table: "Gather together with me. Let the 'sounds' of art and faith course for a time in your veins and your heart. Think about life in all its beauty and promise. Leave my 'table' with a renewed sense of joy as you face tomorrow." Welcome to his classroom around a table spread with dollops of faith, art, family, philosophy, miracles, life experiences, music history, and chance meetings. Some might call it a smorgasbord, but in the author's mind it is a musical banquet: harmony in the broadest sense. So, as his Greek immigrant father would have said, "Fàte se armoni: Eat in Harmony.