World-Class Pianist has Local Roots

There’s that old joke that asks, “How do I get to Carnegie Hall?”

Answer: Practice, practice, practice.

Even Carnegie Hall’s own Web site says that getting to the prestigious Midtown Manhattan concert hall could be as simple as taking the E Train to Seventh Avenue, or by “a lifetime of practice.”

Just ask Elmhurst resident Jeff Panko, who recently returned from his trip to Carnegie Hall after accompanying San Francisco-based soprano Natalie Mann in her performance of Songs of Love and Hope on Feb. 20.

And if opportunities like this come but once in a lifetime, then Panko’s life is indeed charmed. This was Panko’s third time performing at Carnegie Hall. The first time he was only 18 years old, backing jazz legend Maynard Ferguson in concert with the McDonald’s All-American Jazz Band.

“The second time I was 28," Panko said. "I had won an international competition in New York. I was the only American to even make the finals.”

Joking that he’s—ahem—a few years older now, but with his age again ending in 8, Panko dismissed the suggestion that playing in the world-class recital hall might feel a bit boring the third time around.

“Absolutely not!” he said emphatically. “It’s Carnegie Hall. It’s the most glamorous place in the world to play. It’s overwhelming—in a good way. And also nerve-wracking.”

For Mann’s performance, the pair worked up two song cycles by living women composers: Gwyneth Walker’s Though Love Be a Day, based on poems by E.E. Cummings, and Lori Laitman’s Metropolitan Tower and Other Songs. The day before the performance, composer Laitman flew in from Washington, D.C., and coached the pair on her piece.

“I think that was more nerve-wracking than the performance,” Panko said. “But she liked us, and we got great feedback from her.”

Great feedback also came in the form of Opera Insider’s blog, in which reviewer Abigail Wright regaled the performance, writing, “Natalie Mann’s high notes soar with no tension, and her full and balanced tone from top to bottom dances with Jeffrey Panko, whose sensitive clarity creates a musical organism between them throughout the concert.”

Hidden Gem

Back in Elmhurst, Panko has his hands poised above the ivories again. The longtime minister of music at Panko is preparing for this weekend’s performance of chamber music for the , in its 12th season. The upcoming “Sunday at 3” performance on March 6 will feature Panko and the Oak Street Chamber Ensemble: Joo Yun Preece on violin, Timothy Hager, viola, and Will Preece, cello. The piano quartet will perform pieces written specifically for this instrumentation, including Mozart's Quartet in G minor.

Panko still remembers one of the first times he played in Bethel’s sanctuary.

“The acoustics, strangely enough, remind me of the hall I played in at Carnegie,” he said.  “The acoustics are great, and the piano is beautiful and it just seemed a natural fit for a music loving community to sponsor music. With my connections in the city, we started promoting concerts.”

Rev. Stephen Schuette, pastor at Bethel UCC, said Panko’s musicianship is as much a ministry as it is a career.

“As a member of the church who lives his faith among us in music and in life, he truly carries on a ministry that touches lives,” Schuette said. “The Music at Bethel concert series is somewhat of a hidden gem in the community. It stages top-notch musicians in a variety of configurations … and all this is locally accessible. No hike down the Ike, and free parking to boot."

Panko agrees. “[Bethel] is a very intimate place, just by its nature,” he said. “You get great acoustics, and you get to see people who have played for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra down close. From the back row [at Bethel], you’re just as close as the first row of Orchestra Hall. It’s just very intimate. It’s a wonderful and relaxing place to hear concerts.”

To learn more about the Music at Bethel concert series, visit www.bethel-ucc.org. The final concert of the 2010-2011 season will be April 17 at 3 p.m., featuring Elmhurst vocalist .