Some special moments for me were:
- the presence of Mr. Paolo Fazioli himself to show a documentary of the Fabulous Fazioli Piano
- the marvelous classical pianist, Allison Lovejoy
- Blue Skies performance by Art Lande on recorder and Bruce Williamson on sax - amazing how this instrumentation got the audience to sing the song with the performers as softly as they played it, like whispers in unison, allowing the musicians to solo, then sing along again, as if on cue. A cosmic experience!
- Film by John Korty called "Miracle in a Box" about the restoration of an 1897 Steinway Grand Piano by John Callahan and Callahan Piano Service
- Virtuoso performance by 9 year old prodigy, Chloe Ma, on the newly-restored 1897 Steinway Grand - watching her play brought me back to when I was her age playing the same Mozart piece. I knew exactly when she would pause then play again. It's as if I was watching myself play, truly miraculous! Another cosmic experience! I heard somebody later said about Chloe, " She's so humble." And someone else remarked, " She's young. She doesn't know any better. She just plays." So true, at that age, I just played the piano and thought everybody else did the same thing.
- 12 pianos played together to make an amazing sound with Percy Grainger's concert arrangement of Gershwin's Porgy and Bess conducted by Dr. Gwendolyn Mok - a Monster Concert! You should have seen how all the men there lifted 12 pianos, moved them around to position them so that the conductor can see all. An afternoon delight!
- Grammy-award nominee jazz pianist, Taylor Eigsti
And the most special, the pinnacle, is the filmmaker John Korty's personal remarks after I played a lil' rendition of What are You Doing the Rest of Your Life on the restored Steinway, "You made that piano sing without lyrics."
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