Monthly Archives: January 2024

As with the rest of the nation, we’ve been in a deep freeze here in the Midwest.  This is especially annoying after the balmy holiday season at the end of December.  My husband spends much of his time cutting and splitting firewood, moving wood, throwing it in the basement, feeding the impossible iron beast to keep us toasty at night.  Yes, we have a gas furnace but he just sees dollar signs floating out the chimney when we turn it on.

I have spent most of my time moving between the house and my studio.  Feed the birds, take out the trash, take the dog for a short walk rather than our usual ramble.  Dang, that icy wind blows right through several layers of clothing, coats and socks.  Let’s just say, I’m happy to hole up in the house with a book, take a nap, and veg out. 

But…I did make one of my goals this year (see recent post about goals and resolutions) to attend at least one live performance a month, and visit one gallery or museum monthly, too.  This isn’t too hard to accomplish, even in this rural area.  There is always something to do.

This weekend I had tickets to attend a backstage performance by Julian Gargiulo, a talented world-class pianist with an amazing sense of humor.  He is also known as the Pianist with the Hair.  A look at his photos will explain that description.  The Backstage series is the smallest one at about 100 seats and the audience sits onstage with the artists.  Very intimate and great for showing off the marvelous Boesendorfer Imperial Grand piano.  We always try to have at least one pianist per year and often more.

When I was Director of the Jasper Arts Center (now retired), it was my job to present candidates for performances to the entertainment committee, keeping in mind our budget and a diversity of performers for our audience.  One way I did that was to attend the big arts presenters’ conference in New York every January.  Yes, January. Here I met with hundreds of agents and representatives for various performing artists.  Obviously the big names didn’t do showcases, but many of the other performers did.  Most showcases were held right in the mid-town Hilton but others were scattered throughout the city.  This was an exhausting week with some events starting at breakfast and many running past midnight.  I would take my scheduling book, circle the performers I was interested in learning more about, and make appointments with their booking agents.  Sometimes I would need tickets to certain showcases so I would have to arrange for those, too. 

I was very fortunate that Julian’s agent invited me to attend his performance at Carnegie Hall which is just blocks from the hotel.  When I saw him perform, he was so talented but extremely personable, too.  I met him later at the agent’s booth.  We weren’t able to get him for the following season, but a few seasons later, we booked him for our stage as well as some educational performances for the schools. 

So this weekend I got out of my snug little huddle on the sofa and dragged myself into the arts center to see Julian for the third time. He’s added more to his performance, including a new digital real-time view of his keyboard work.  Telling amusing stories about his kids and introducing his father who was accompanying him on this tour. I bought a new CD after the show and asked for a photo.  He actually remembered me!  Which was so nice of him to say.  I’ve been retired from the performing arts business for several years now, but I’m still a huge fan and supporter.  Despite the dreadfully cold weather, I am so glad that I made the effort to get out for some live entertainment.  It’s just too easy to remain a slug at home.  I hope you all can get out to support the arts in your area.  There is probably much more going on than you realize. You don’t know what you’re missing.

http://www.pianistwiththehair.com/