Seeing You Play

A musical extravaganza presented by long-time piano teacher, Patricia Henry, was performed last Friday night and Saturday afternoon to the delight of several hundred attendants. Somehow, Patricia Henry manages to pull off the seemingly impossible, assembling dozens of her former students, music club members, and others to perform musical selections using multiple pianos, keyboards, an organ, as well as a handful of orchestral instruments. Doing so once would be an achievement, but Patricia is up to about a half-dozen such performances over the past dozen years.

As my daughter, Rayanne Adams, is one of a select and talented group of pianists chosen to perform, I always look forward to Patricia’s programs. Rayanne’s childhood best friend, Mignon Montgomery Williamson, another pianist beaming with talent, is also a member of the core group of pianists upon which Patricia bills as her musical extravaganzas.

Because Rayanne and Mignon were practically inseparable in their youth, Mignon’s father and I came to think of each other’s daughter as one of our own family. The years of separation since their youth have weakened that bond of friendship and association, but I still think of the two as sisters and am proud of the accomplishments of each one.

Patricia knows she can count on certain individuals to stay together when playing as a group, and she asks her other talented players, who have less experience in group performances, to listen to her core players in order to keep time, musically. The end result, in my mind, is that of listening to a single great piano being played.

My daughter and Mignon often played piano duets for First Baptist Church in their young years. It was especially gratifying to see them perform similarly in Patricia’s musical extravaganza, and I admit to being proud of their solo selections as well.

For the greater part of her music life, starting at age five, Rayanne has been unflappable with regard to performing before an audience. But, I witnessed her worrying about being “good enough” for the first time as she struggled to master certain pieces while doing all the usual activities as a wife and mother, maintaining a job, being involved in the music program of her church, and trying to plan her eldest daughter’s wedding.

A number of individuals sought out Rayanne after the two performances to express their appreciation for the program and to comment on how much they enjoyed “seeing her play.” It was the “seeing her play” phrase that gave her pause to wonder what she might be doing with her actions to call attention to herself, something team players seek to avoid. We, her family, attempted to explain what we felt others were expressing.

“Rayanne, folks just recognize your ability to express yourself in your music. That’s what they mean by ‘seeing you play,’” we consoled.

In ordering several DVD copies of the music program through a company under contract with Patricia, I had the opportunity to discuss the music program at length with Patricia in the privacy of her home.

I asked her take on “seeing you play,” which she explained, thusly, with regard to her students, “What I’ve always told them is when you’re playing, your fingers are doing the talking and singing the song for you. And, you’ve got to play it like you mean what the words are saying in the song that you’re playing. And, I’ve always told them that they’re not a robot. That if you mash a button on a robot it does the same thing, same tone, but we’re human, and it’s a lot of difference when a human stands up and sings, and they put feeling into their face and in the way they do their voice. Well, you’ve got to do that with your fingers when you’re playing; you’ve got to put your feeling in.”

Apparently, Rayanne has gotten good enough at putting feeling into her music that it’s recognized by others. Certainly other players have similar abilities and they, too, develop distinctive styles of playing and expression, but it’s nice to know others see what I see in Rayanne’s creative expressions in music.

Musical talent seems to flow through the Carter bloodline, but my portion is far less than that of my son and daughter. Jason is an outstanding guitarist and singer. His genre of choice is the Blues, but he’s comfortable doing certain country classics. Both my children play well in their respective arenas and as far as I can tell, folks enjoy “seeing them play.”

Note: Photos from 1981 and 2011.