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The Philadelphia Inquirer
October 12, 2012 Friday
CITY-D Edition
A home that's a perfect backdrop for music and art
By Sally Friedman; For The Inquirer
In the music room of Ramona and Jack Vosbikian's Moorestown home, a
silver picture frame rests on the baby grand piano. Does it hold a
cherished family picture, perhaps? A fine painting?
No, but it's just as dear: Displayed are two ticket stubs from a 1971
Philadelphia Orchestra concert.
"We were newly married and struggling, but we managed to scrape
together the $8.50 each for seats toward the back of the Academy,"
says Ramona, 71, of their first time. "It didn't matter - we were so
excited just to be there."
Some things have changed since the couple were back-of-the-theater
types; the orchestra's home is now the Kimmel Center, and the two are
season subscribers. But their passion for music - and devotion to the
orchestra - is just as strong. Ramona and Jack, who is the president
of International Rollforms in Deptford, are principal benefactors of
Thursday's Opening Night, the traditional gala start of the
orchestra's season and the debut of music director Yannick
Nézet-Séguin.
So it's no surprise that music's role in their home's decor literally
begins in the front garden. There, a statue of a small boy holding a
violin greets visitors. He's been affectionately named "Paganini" at
the suggestion of Philadelphia Orchestra cellist Gloria DiPasquale.
Italian-born Niccolò Paganini was playing the violin by the age of 7,
so the name was apt.
Inside the Vosbikian home, the large foyer, with its soaring 18-foot
ceiling and curved stairway, has actually become a mini-concert hall
for orchestra benefits. The space can accommodate 70 to 80 people,
some on the second-floor balcony for a dramatic view of the crystal
chandelier, which would be at home in a Parisian or Viennese opera
house.
The Vosbikians built the home in 2002 after 30 years in a more
conventional house in Cherry Hill, what many think is counterintuitive
for empty-nesters. The Vosbikians didn't see it that way.
"We really wanted exactly the kind of home we built - one with lots of
open areas and room for our growing family," said Jack, 75. The couple
has three children and five grandchildren. "And we did downsize," he
quips of their 5,300-square-foot home. "Our Cherry Hill house had five
bedrooms - this one only has four."
The couple borrowed ideas from various sources, from the outdoor
elevation they saw at a Stone Harbor house to a local sample home they
visited for interior design ideas. Lovers of the outdoors, they built
the less formal living spaces - the kitchen/breakfast area and family
room - with sweeping views of the gardens and the parklike setting
they created over the years. A pergola and fountain - and another
outdoor sculpture - add to the pleasures of spring and summer
entertaining.
A soft off-white color palette in the formal living room and dining
room in the front of the home provide a mellow backdrop for the
Vosbikians' extensive art collection. As much as home is an anchor for
them, the couple has traveled to every continent, including with the
Philadelphia Orchestra on its forays to Hungary, Spain, England,
Germany, and Switzerland, where they were witness to performances at
the Lucerne Music Festival.
On a safari in Africa, the couple found a unique painting crafted from
banana peels that now hangs in their living room. The dining room
holds two pieces that spell out Ramona's and Jack's names in
hieroglyphics. And one of the most meaningful art pieces is a painting
that stretches across the music room wall. Abstract in style, it
incorporates images of musicians and musical instruments, and was
purchased in Armenia, where Jack's roots are.
"Early in the 20th century, my family fled the Armenian genocide and
established their lives here," explains Jack, who has been active in
the Armenian Assembly of America, a lobbying group dedicated to
recalling and preserving that history. The Vosbikians have made three
trips to that region in recent years.
There will be no forays far from home this month as the Vosbikians
bring out their formal attire for Opening Night. Ramona's
responsibilities as a member of the orchestra's board and chair of its
education committee - along with other administrative duties - have
kept her working nearly every day. She also serves on the board of
Symphony in C - formerly known as the Haddonfield Symphony.
It's no wonder that on a typical day, the Vosbikians' sound system is
playing classical music. One recent afternoon, Mozart's Symphony No.
40 in G minor was offering its majestic background in the sunlit
kitchen.
The two play some music themselves - Ramona, piano; Jack, clarinet -
and it's in their blood. Her father played trumpet with the Benny
Goodman Orchestra and his played multiple instruments with Armenian
family bands. But their greatest joy now, they say, is in opening
their home to events like a recent daylong retreat for the orchestra's
teaching artists.
The bookmarks that Ramona distributes to hundreds of schoolchildren
through the orchestra's education outreach program summarize the
couple's personal anthem:
Borrowed from Friedrich Nietzsche, the saying reads: "Without music,
life would be a mistake."
October 12, 2012 Friday
CITY-D Edition
A home that's a perfect backdrop for music and art
By Sally Friedman; For The Inquirer
In the music room of Ramona and Jack Vosbikian's Moorestown home, a
silver picture frame rests on the baby grand piano. Does it hold a
cherished family picture, perhaps? A fine painting?
No, but it's just as dear: Displayed are two ticket stubs from a 1971
Philadelphia Orchestra concert.
"We were newly married and struggling, but we managed to scrape
together the $8.50 each for seats toward the back of the Academy,"
says Ramona, 71, of their first time. "It didn't matter - we were so
excited just to be there."
Some things have changed since the couple were back-of-the-theater
types; the orchestra's home is now the Kimmel Center, and the two are
season subscribers. But their passion for music - and devotion to the
orchestra - is just as strong. Ramona and Jack, who is the president
of International Rollforms in Deptford, are principal benefactors of
Thursday's Opening Night, the traditional gala start of the
orchestra's season and the debut of music director Yannick
Nézet-Séguin.
So it's no surprise that music's role in their home's decor literally
begins in the front garden. There, a statue of a small boy holding a
violin greets visitors. He's been affectionately named "Paganini" at
the suggestion of Philadelphia Orchestra cellist Gloria DiPasquale.
Italian-born Niccolò Paganini was playing the violin by the age of 7,
so the name was apt.
Inside the Vosbikian home, the large foyer, with its soaring 18-foot
ceiling and curved stairway, has actually become a mini-concert hall
for orchestra benefits. The space can accommodate 70 to 80 people,
some on the second-floor balcony for a dramatic view of the crystal
chandelier, which would be at home in a Parisian or Viennese opera
house.
The Vosbikians built the home in 2002 after 30 years in a more
conventional house in Cherry Hill, what many think is counterintuitive
for empty-nesters. The Vosbikians didn't see it that way.
"We really wanted exactly the kind of home we built - one with lots of
open areas and room for our growing family," said Jack, 75. The couple
has three children and five grandchildren. "And we did downsize," he
quips of their 5,300-square-foot home. "Our Cherry Hill house had five
bedrooms - this one only has four."
The couple borrowed ideas from various sources, from the outdoor
elevation they saw at a Stone Harbor house to a local sample home they
visited for interior design ideas. Lovers of the outdoors, they built
the less formal living spaces - the kitchen/breakfast area and family
room - with sweeping views of the gardens and the parklike setting
they created over the years. A pergola and fountain - and another
outdoor sculpture - add to the pleasures of spring and summer
entertaining.
A soft off-white color palette in the formal living room and dining
room in the front of the home provide a mellow backdrop for the
Vosbikians' extensive art collection. As much as home is an anchor for
them, the couple has traveled to every continent, including with the
Philadelphia Orchestra on its forays to Hungary, Spain, England,
Germany, and Switzerland, where they were witness to performances at
the Lucerne Music Festival.
On a safari in Africa, the couple found a unique painting crafted from
banana peels that now hangs in their living room. The dining room
holds two pieces that spell out Ramona's and Jack's names in
hieroglyphics. And one of the most meaningful art pieces is a painting
that stretches across the music room wall. Abstract in style, it
incorporates images of musicians and musical instruments, and was
purchased in Armenia, where Jack's roots are.
"Early in the 20th century, my family fled the Armenian genocide and
established their lives here," explains Jack, who has been active in
the Armenian Assembly of America, a lobbying group dedicated to
recalling and preserving that history. The Vosbikians have made three
trips to that region in recent years.
There will be no forays far from home this month as the Vosbikians
bring out their formal attire for Opening Night. Ramona's
responsibilities as a member of the orchestra's board and chair of its
education committee - along with other administrative duties - have
kept her working nearly every day. She also serves on the board of
Symphony in C - formerly known as the Haddonfield Symphony.
It's no wonder that on a typical day, the Vosbikians' sound system is
playing classical music. One recent afternoon, Mozart's Symphony No.
40 in G minor was offering its majestic background in the sunlit
kitchen.
The two play some music themselves - Ramona, piano; Jack, clarinet -
and it's in their blood. Her father played trumpet with the Benny
Goodman Orchestra and his played multiple instruments with Armenian
family bands. But their greatest joy now, they say, is in opening
their home to events like a recent daylong retreat for the orchestra's
teaching artists.
The bookmarks that Ramona distributes to hundreds of schoolchildren
through the orchestra's education outreach program summarize the
couple's personal anthem:
Borrowed from Friedrich Nietzsche, the saying reads: "Without music,
life would be a mistake."