LATTF Initiative - A New Era
August 18, 2009

Hollymont Castle (Photo By: BATTF)

by Bruce H. Liu

A nice crowd of 40 table tennis people from the Greater Los Angeles area came for the LATTF Initiative. August 16, 2009 might become a historic date for the sport of table tennis in the Greater Los Angeles area.

Brunch (Photo By: BATTF)

After a tasty brunch, the meeting commenced at around 12:45 PM. Maestro Dexter Grey, who kindly lent his legendary Hollymont Castle for the meeting, performed a mini concert to start the event. No one could have done a better job introducing Dexter than Dr. Erlinda Grey, Dexter’s wife, who owns Mission Medical Clinic in Panorama City and also made the food arrangements.

Maestro Dexter Grey (Photo By: BATTF)

Dexter’s performance was interesting, to say the least. He apologized at the start that he might need a while to warm up. He then played five notes, C, D, E, F, and G, one at a time with his right hand but his fingering seemed awkward. The audience appeared surprised but politely kept it to themselves. Most probably thought they could have done better with those five notes. He then improvised various combinations of those five notes for a few minutes. He missed some notes here and there but showed that he could play. It was great but nothing spectacular. They gave Dexter a warm applause.

Dexter next played excerpts from various composers, narrating the music as he played. Now he had everyone’s attention. The expression of his music was simply stunning. If the event finished right there, most would have considered it worth the trip. At the end of Chopin’s Polonaise in A-flat major, Op. 53, the Polonaise Heroique, the audience gave Dexter a rousing standing ovation. Dexter’s passion and music conquered everyone. For a while, people forgot about chopping and were totally into Chopin.

After the guests left, I told Dexter that it was a genius move to “fake” that he couldn’t even play C, D, E, F, and G properly. I thought he had scripted it. I was totally wrong! Dexter said he did not plan it. He actually couldn’t play that day! He’s been busy remodeling the Hollymont Castle and did lots of heavy lifting. (There was no elevator there.) His fingers were very stiff and he had to wear a brace all the time. He had almost decided to cancel the performance. I am glad he did not--it would have been a big loss for the attendees!

Greater Los Angeles (Photo By: BATTF)