My sister can ever more rip up a keyboard. Soloing with her first orchestra at the ripe age of 12, and schooled through her doctorate from The Juilliard School in New York City, she has accomplished tremendous levels of achievement with her artistry over the years.
After several years on a sabbatical of sorts from the keyboard, she prepared a very special program that was performed last Sunday afternoon in Spartanburg, SC. The concert was spurred by a relative who donated a grand piano for the performance hall at the First Presbyterian Church there...but it wasn't just any church. Our great-great-grandfather, Thomas Hart Law, was the first minister of that church, which made it all very personal.
To a packed hall, with the church scrambling to bring in extra seating, Beth treated us to Bach, Rachmaninoff, Chopin, and Landrum. Rita Landrum was already composing songs at the same age and time that Beth was playing with her first orchestra...whoulda thunk then that they would later team up and blend their talents?! Actually, our families share a deep friendship that is decades old, beginning when my grandfather moved to Tryon and became fast friends with John Landrum.
Now, if you wanna talk strange coincidences (except there are no coincidences!), Rita is the great-great-granddaughter of John Gill Landrum who founded the First BAPTIST Church in Spartanburg! Surely he and Thomas Hart Law must have known each other.
The following 'video'/audio clip is from Sunday's concert, with Beth playing Rita's "Another Allegro" (1981):
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Beth and Rita were also my groupies at my performance the following night at Tryon Estates, sporting their Ugly Boy Flutes t-shirts and holding the Holy Grail itself, the original "Ugly Boy"!
And so wrapped up a whirlwind 48 hours of family music and entertainment!
1 comment:
Very loving tribute to your sister! :-)
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