Even to the untrained ear, there is no question of the power Emily Remington possesses when she sits down behind the baby grand piano and lovingly fingers the keys."

So noted the Augusta Chronicle on January 9, 1977 as Emily Remington prepared to leave Augusta for Charleston to start a new chapter in her life. She was presented the keys to the city on her departure from Augusta in the clear hope of a speedy return. In classic Emily Remington fashion she replied, "It's like my dog tags."

Emily first displayed a serious interest in music in 1920, when, at the age of four, she devoted herself to listening to records by legendary violinist Fritz Kreisler on her family's Victor gramophone. Having seen her father, a Methodist minister, play country fiddle, she went into the yard, got two sticks and rubbed them together, pretending to play along with Maestro Kreisler.

HER PARENTS STARTED her on piano lessons, but Emily's first love was violin. She attended Columbia College in order to pursue serious study of the violin with Madame Felice de Horvath, and, astonishingly, played for a college chapel program after only 3 lessons.

For many years the organist/choir master for the Lutheran Church of the Resurrection, she served as the Georgia State chair of the American Guild of Organists. She taught music at Paine College and at Augusta College, where she directed the choral programs and also taught Music Appreciation and Piano.

In all, she spent 31 years in Augusta, during which time she organized the Augusta Choral Society (in 1951). She was named its Conductor Emerita on the Society's 50th anniversary in 2001.

Her life as a teacher and performer has been full, rich, and varied. She has performed Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto with the Augusta Symphony and the Atlanta-Emory Orchestra, as well as Bach's Double Concerto with the Princeton, New Jersey String Ensemble. She also performed as a soloist in Camille Saint-Saens' Third Symphony (the so-called "Organ Symphony"), Samuel Barber's Toccata Festiva and Poulenc's organ concerto---all with the Augusta Symphony.

IN 1955 AND 1956 , Emily hosted one of the first locally produced television shows, In the Music Room, on which she performed and commented on classical music. Broadcast live, it made her a celebrity in Augusta.

During a recent conversation, Emily recalled the time a young mother and her high school age daughter came to her for assistance, seeking voice lessons. Emily was startled by the girl's obvious, though raw, talent and the remarkable strength of her voice, and she happily worked with her for a couple of years before suggesting to both mother and daughter that they should go to New York for more professional training. To this day, Emily remains a close friend of her prize pupil, the internationally renowned singer Jessye Norman.

EMILY IS THE recipient of countless honors and awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award from Coker College, where she received her undergraduate degree before going on to graduate work at Juilliard School of Music, the American Conservatory, and Peabody Conservatory.

As well-known for her many civic contributions as she is for her teaching and performing, she was deeply involved with the USO during World War II, performing American music of all periods and styles at Fort Gordon in benefit concerts for the Army.

THERE IS NO question that music is her first and greatest love. She explains her abiding affection by stating that, "Music is an outlet for thought and emotion. There is nothing that can do so much for you physically or mentally, making it probably the most therapeutic of all activities."

Now 92, Emily Remington resides in Charleston, S.C., where she remains active and engaged. When asked about her remarkably youthful appearance, she explained that age should be divided into four categories: "From birth to 30 years of age, you are a child; from 30 to 60, you are a young adult; from 60 to 90, you have finally reached adulthood; and from 90 on, well, you are just darn lucky."

Emily Remington, a longtime resident of Augusta and a key contributor to its musical and cultural life for more than 30 years, will visit the city once again this Thursday, Sept. 18, when the Imperial Theatre, in partnership with the Westobou Festival, hosts an encore presentation of the Academy Award-winning film The Three Faces of Eve . Emily played the organ at the Miller Theatre when the film premiered in September 1957.

She will join Jim Davis, the master of ceremonies at the film's world premiere, and Chris Costner Sizemore -- whose life and battle with multiple personality disorder served as the inspiration for the motion picture and the book on which it was based.

THIS EVENT promises to be a magical evening as Emily, Chris, and Jim take the stage of the Imperial to share their memories of The Three Faces of Eve .