What if music could find someone youve lost

[Applause]

foreign

[Music]

thank you very much

thank you thank you so much you know as

victor borge used to say i’d like to

thank my parents for making this

performance possible

and my children for making it necessary

so many people in our lives make our

life purpose

possible and necessary

i’d like to take you on a musical

journey that connects you with one of

those people

someone you love dearly someone

you wanted to have a little more time to

love someone you wish was still with you

this is my mom isn’t she beautiful

and then there’s this guy

yeah i’m afraid that’s me now don’t let

that child like grin

and super stylish beatles haircut fool

you

i was trouble but as you could see i was

happy when i was with my mom

she’s one of the greatest lyrical

sopranos that’s ever lived

ineffably gifted with the voice of an

angel

she could have had center stage anywhere

anywhere in the world

but she gave that up to be my mom

she gave me this stage with you today

she’s been by my side

when i’ve been particularly nervous for

a big performance touring the world with

the piano guys

or when i’ve been off the stage and

struggling and at the mercy of

anxiety and depression or when i felt

like i’m

i’m under the thumb of this perniciously

pervasive

demon known as inadequacy that so many

of us are fighting

she’s gently nudged me forward right at

the moment

when i felt like giving up so i’m a

musician today

not only because of what she gave up for

me but also because of what she

continues to give me

and that support is profound and

especially powerful

why because it comes from a place

about which we know very little

not long after that first picture i

showed you was taken

my mother fell to the floor of our home

suddenly

in this really scary seizure

such an intense moment my my dad rushed

her to the er

brain tumor

big one doctors didn’t know how long

we’d have with her mate one

two maybe three years before we’d lose

her

but due to her strength and a series of

indescribable miracles

she defied that prognosis and fought

that brain tumor for 18

years

thank you

i’ll let her know thank you

she fought that brain tumor for 18 years

but think about it some of those years

were really rough as you can imagine

but we learned to be grateful for every

day

now when her final curtain call came i

couldn’t applaud

because i wasn’t ready for it to end

so after she passed away i spent some

time being angry

bitter resentful confused at these years

that were stolen from me

at the chance i never had to know the

soprano

in this beautiful woman to hear her sing

in full voice without pain

to perform with her i would have loved

that just me playing the cello right

next to her just looking up at her

beautiful face singing oh i would have

loved that chance

i never got that chance so i struggled

with this i really did

but then i discovered something

something that has compelled me to be on

the stage talking with you

today isn’t it true that our life’s most

sublime melodies tend to be written

during the dark symphonies of our

struggle

and in this dark symphony i found a

healing formatta

the very thing that had wounded me was

the same thing that healed me

the power of

music you see since then i’ve spent some

very special time with my mom

through music i’ve discovered that the

people we’ve lost

aren’t lost at all and the holes their

absence

leaves inside us are not meant to be

filled by someone or

something else

instead they are intentional mindful

places

meant for us to go to take refuge to

reconnect and to reunite with our loved

ones

to find them there still interested

still invested and somehow

still involved in the details of our

lives

that is where i found my mom

now i can’t prove this to you with

science there’s no chance

spirituality helped me take the first

step but ultimately you just have to go

there yourself in your own way

and music the power of music can act as

a guide for you on this

incredible important journey

if you’re willing i’d like to go there

together right now

and i want to show this to you because i

i want you if you need to use this later

when you’re on your own in a quiet place

and you’ve got a song that’s personal to

you i want to show you how this can work

i’d like you to close your eyes if you

would please

choose a loved one you want to connect

with

it could be someone you’ve already been

thinking about as i’ve been talking

i want you to picture a favorite place

a relaxing place it could be a place

that you both adored together

now picture your loved ones sitting or

standing across from you

make this as detailed as you can it’s

important what are they wearing

what is their posture their expression

is it a smile

is it a look of concern or is hope

written in their eyes i want you to hold

this image in your mind you could do so

continually with your eyes closed or you

can open them it’s up to you but i want

you to live in this place

while i play for you one more piece of

music

it’s a piece i’ve never performed in

public why because i

feared that i wouldn’t do it justice

it’s my mom’s favorite

and as i play i want you to have a

conversation with this beautiful person

across from you

i want you to to hold their hand share a

long

hug ask for forgiveness

or finally give of it freely if you need

ask for help with something you’re

struggling with

at the very least express gratitude for

how they’ve made you

possible and necessary

express love

my mother is a soprano

with the voice of an angel

and that voice for me is still sweet and

rings with a resounding relevance

and as i play i hope you can hear the

voice of your own angel

and let music find someone

you’ve lost

[Music]

thank you