HAPPY HORN: This ought to restore at least a touch of your faith in human nature. You’ll recall my story about how Santa Barbara Symphony trombonist Brad Close lost his $3,000 horn, then, against the odds, got it back. Brad, loading his gear into his car after a recent concert, drove off, leaving the horn and case on the sidewalk. A dishonest person might have snatched the horn and tried to make a fast buck. But along came UCSB computer technologist and research assistant Dylan Parenti. Spotting the case, Dylan waited a half-hour for an owner to claim it, then called police and said he waited another half-hour for officers to arrive. A few days later he got a letter of thanks from Close, and a $100 check. “I sent it back,” Dylan told me. “I was just glad that he got his instrument back. You can’t put a price tag on a horn and what it means to a musician.” Dylan also got a letter from the Santa Barbara Symphony offering him two tickets to Saturday’s concert at the Arlington. That he accepted. “I’ve never been [to the Symphony], and it’s something I’ve always wanted to do. And they’re playing one of my favorite pieces, Bolero” (source).
