Craig Sheppard

Last night my husband and I went to the LaSells Stewart Center at Oregon State University to hear Craig Sheppard play on the new Steinway grand piano to begin a concert series. A professor of music from the University of Washington School of Music, Craig Sheppard gave everyone in the audience a virtuoso performance resulting in a standing ovation.

Craig Sheppard took my heart and spirit through the full range of emotion as his fingers danced and tenderly carassed the notes on the keyboard. He dazzled everyone with playful passages building with texture to bold crescendo. He played Bach's Partita #6 in E Minor, Beethoven's Sonata in E Major, followed by Debussy's Estampes and ending with Chopin's Sonata in B minor, Opus 58. My favorite was Chopin but it was all glorious and a touch of heaven.

Thank you, Craig Sheppard for coming to Oregon State University for the free performance so I could have the privilege of hearing you play. It was magnificent.

It was a sea of white and grey in the audience. There were very few young people. I think it takes age to see what is most important in life and what brings meaning. I was happy to see an Asian father bring his five children. I noticed three of the cute little girls cross the street. I didn't hear a peep the entire time. Of course, they were very well behaved. The Asian culture values excellence. You see it in schools on test scores and grades. I saw another mother and a cute young girl with a big smile. How nice that these parents understand how important it is to take their children to such an important event and for the wisdom to know that this is a wonderful way to spend time together.

I thought at the end as I was standing and clapping with enthusiasm that this was a wonderful job to have in life--to play the piano with passion, to entertain, and then have everyone love you and clap for you at the end of every performance. How thrilling!