Playing my tiny instrument (Photo: Emily O'Dell)
Long live the beauty that comes down and through and onto all of us.
— Laurie Anderson
This morning, while reading Laurie Anderson’s account of how Lou Reed spent his final moments doing tai chi, I remembered how he used to enjoy our contemplative Javanese gamelan concerts in New York. The photo above was taken at our concert at the Indonesian Consulate–when Lou and Laurie were in the front row. As I struck the keys of my instrument (pictured above), it was exciting to have them sitting so close–appreciating the meditative music and masked dance. Though Lou was supposed to come our shadow puppet performance at Asia Society last year, he sadly wasn’t able to attend because he was ill. We’ll certainly miss having him at our concerts–and I’ll always picture him sitting right over there in the front row…
