They work in harmony

Music should be performed, not discussed. That is the philosophy of orchestra veteran Orion Mehus, who is in his 80s and lives at the Atria Lynbrook on Peninsula Boulevard.

Mehus recently teamed with Valley Stream music teacher Laura Morr to share their talents with local audiences. Morr, plays the piano. Mehus is a violinist.

“We met, I played for him, he played for me and we hit it off,” Morr said of Mehus. “We traded phone calls a couple of times.” Morr, who lives in Malverne and teaches part-time at Holy Name of Mary School, also accompanies a choral group at the Atria Tanglewood on Ocean Avenue. She was told by a resident there about Mehus, she said.

The duo has performed at the Atria, the Sunrise Assisted Living facility and for students at Morr’s school. Mehus said the performance at Holy Name of Mary was a real treat. “They were very excited,” he said of the students, “and we got very fine applause.”

Mehus and Morr mostly perform classical music, but they throw in some contemporary pieces as well. They have about an hour of music in their repertoire and are looking to add more. They get together to practice at least once a week.

Their favorite piece to play together is “Meditation” from Massenet’s opera “Thais.” Mehus said that the opera was a flop, but the piece has become a classic.

Mehus has played in six orchestras, including three in New York and one in Europe. He played at Carnegie Hall under the celebrated conductor Leopold Stokowski, who was best known for conducting for the music to Disney’s “Fantasia.” “Music, as I see it, has to have magic,” Mehus said. “It has to lift you. Your day isn’t the same once you play great music.”

The Mehus-Morr partnership has been beneficial for both. Mehus said there are very few pieces that were written just for the violin, so adding piano opens many more doors. And Morr has expanded her musical abilities. “I haven’t played classical music since I was in college,” she said. “I love the music he gives me to play. I love learning it.”

Mehus described Morr as a marvelous pianist and a fast learner. She also possesses one of his favorite qualities: She is punctual.

Morr has been playing the piano since she was 6. “She’s ahead of me,” Mehus said. “I didn’t start violin till I was 9.”

The two don’t just want their audiences to be entertained, they want them to be inspired. “I hope the people we play for appreciate this kind of music,” Morr said, “because they don’t hear it maybe as often as they should.”

They plan to keep performing, and would like to play for more area schoolchildren. Morr said they would also be interested in doing private performances such as cocktail hours or house parties.

Their dream, of course, would be to play on Mehus’s old stage. “Carnegie Hall — he keeps mentioning that,” Morr said. “They haven’t called us yet.”