A famous flute faces Alzheimers

Eugenia Zukerman has been an international soloist, a spousal member of the Barenboim gang, artistic director at Vail and classical music correspondent for CBS News Sunday Morning.

Now 74, she is facing memory loss:

For flutist Eugenia Zukerman, Debussy’s “Syrinx” has been a staple of her daily practice routine since she was 10 years old. The piece is only 34 bars long and lasts about four minutes. By her own estimate, Zukerman has played it more than 20,000 times. One morning not that long ago, she was midway through “Syrinx” and drew a total blank on what came next.

Zukerman, 74, has Alzheimer’s. She was diagnosed about three years ago after her two daughters insisted that she get checked…

Read full report here.