My debut

Technicalities abound when determining what my “debut” was. Was it the first time I played the piano in church at age 11? Was it the first time I played the organ in church at age 14? Was it the first recital I played before going off to boarding school at age 15? Was it the first recital I played in college? Was it the first non-degree recital I played while enrolled in grad school? Was it the first master’s recital I played? Was it the first recital I played after grad school?

I tend to define my debut as the first recital I played away from home turf at the invitation of a complete stranger. In that case, it was a recital played on November 4, 1996, at the Rivermont Presbyterian Church in Lynchburg, VA, at the invitation of David Charles Campbell, then director of music. But even that carries a bit of a technicality, because David Charles had heard me play earlier that year for a traveling youth choir and wanted more. And so the truly completely stranger-invited recital was April 13, 1997, at St. George’s Episcopal Church in Port Arthur, Tex.

But there were other debuts. My “European debut” was little more than a performance as part of a group tour. But an audience of tourists developed downstairs during the performance. That was a highlight of my career. Or perhaps my European debut was as Mass organist at Saint-Sulpice during the summer of 2003. Then there could be a mini-debut chalked up for each large region of the country in which I have performed. And we could assign even mini-er debuts to individual states or major cities.

But who's counting? This is all in good fun. I’m not gearing up to make some sort of pithy statement with all this. I’m merely reflecting on all the fun I have had and how I wish to do nothing else. And I’m only 43, so I hope I have at least 30 years of stage enjoyment left.

Every recital is an event for me, and I plan each of them carefully, paying attention to the event, the targeted audience, the instrument at hand, the time of year, and a balance between exciting and soothing programming. And I’m in the business of helping others make their debut, however they choose to define that. So let’s have some more fun now!