In the spring of 1968, my brother and I received some Community Concert tickets from a friend to see Ferrante & Teicher. We had never attended one of Great Bend’s Community Concerts so we felt honored to have this wonderful opportunity.

When we arrived at the concert, we could see that the auditorium was a full house – not many seats left. A concert volunteer gave us a couple of folding chairs and led us toward the stage, up some steps and into the wing just to the left of the stage. I remember being awestruck at the thought of having such a close view of the performers.

I was in my freshman year of college and I had been told Ferrante & Teicher were a renowned piano duo. Beyond that I didn’t know much about them, until they began to play. I did know this was one of those special experiences I would remember for the rest of my life. 

The pianists were seated at two grand pianos facing each other. We saw the back of one performer, yet could see his hands moving on the keys to one side and the other. We could look into the face of the one on the other side as they played. The music was wonderful – light and bright and intricate, some classical pieces, others the familiar music from movies and Broadway shows.

Many years later, as an officer on the Golden Belt Community Concert board, I was surprised to see Ferrante & Teicher’s signatures on the inside of the association’s grand piano along with many other signatures of musicians who have graced our stage. Countless signatures can be seen when the piano is open if one has the good fortune to take a look. Some of the names are more well-known than others, but all performers are asked to sign the piano after their concert. All of them, no matter the extent of their popularity, seem honored to be asked to sign it and to have their own signatures among some of the very famous ones they see.

Some well-known names include Duke Ellington, Van Cliburn, George Shearing, Les Brown, Count Basie, Floyd Cramer, John Davidson, the Texas Tenors and Melissa Manchester. Several have performed more than once on our concert stage, including Peter Nero, Ferrante & Teicher, Ernie Haase & Signature Sound and Jason Coleman, grandson of pianist Floyd Cramer. He was elated to have his signature there along with his grandfather’s.

Retired band director Joe Boley, who served as Golden Belt Community Concert Association president from 1998 to 2014, says the nine-foot Baldwin grand piano was purchased in 1954 from local jeweler and musician Loyall Komarek for $3,755. The Great Bend City Council appropriated $3,000 for the piano and that amount was added to funds raised by the Parnassus Music Club for the purchase.

The signatures inside the piano were a revelation to me, and I imagine not many people in this community have been aware of the treasures hidden inside our piano – or at least not until now.

Our piano now has the additional signatures from Phat Cat Swinger (founder Marco Palos and pianist Tris Duncan) as well as Branden & James and guest singer/songwriter Effie Passero. They gave a superb performance Sept. 26 bringing together their classical backgrounds and their affinity and talent for rock music. The results of that combination were amazing. Think of the Eagles’ “Hotel California” with a classical flair, yet keeping the rock sound in vocals and beat.

We heard moving arrangements of songs from “Les Miserables” and “Wicked.” There were overtones of Bach in their version of Elton John’s “Crocodile Rock,” and a classical feel to “House of the Rising Sun.” Their encore was a beautiful tribute to our Kansas roots – a pairing of “You Are My Sunshine” and “Over the Rainbow.”

At this writing we are looking forward to “Here Comes the Sun,” a tribute to the Beatles by five multi-instrumentalists/vocalists. I’ll have more to say about them later.  Concerts are open to Golden Belt Community Concert Association members.

Linda Jerke is second vice president and publicity chair of the Golden Belt Community Concert Association. She was Localife Editor for the Tribune for 22 years and was a communications specialist in the Office of College Communications at Barton Community College for 17 years before her retirement in 2011. She can be contacted by email: lindajerke@gmail.com.