Master Music Storyteller in Full Flow
The Piano and Me is built around storytelling — intelligent, personal, and absorbing — that flows naturally into music of the highest order.
Hershey Felder guides us through a life shaped by composers, history, and memory, letting stories lead and allowing the piano to arrive exactly when it matters. The result is a salon elevated to the concert hall: ideas, insight, and world-class music woven into a single, seamless experience that rewards close attention.
Felder arrives at this piece after decades of inhabiting great composers onstage, a journey that has made him a familiar and trusted figure for audiences at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley. In this world premiere, that accumulated experience turns inward. The result offers context for the artistry audiences already know, revealing how music, memory, identity and history move together across a life.
Hershey Felder has the room — and keeps it.
Here, Felder emerges as a master raconteur — a modern salonier — guiding the room through stories about composers, Jewish identity, inheritance and survival. The storytelling is conversational yet deliberate, shaped by wit, insight, and a respect for our attention. Ideas arrive clearly, connect naturally and continue to resonate as the evening unfolds.
At key moments, Felder turns to the piano and the narrative continues in sound. Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Bartók, and others appear as companions rather than set pieces. The playing is fluent, expressive, and grounded in long familiarity.
Storytelling sets the course — the piano carries it forward.
What gives The Piano and Me its distinctive power is the way these elements are interwoven. Spoken word and music move seamlessly together, creating a steady rhythm of listening and reflection. We remain fully engaged, following the thread as it unfolds with ease and confidence.
Background projected visuals contribute with equal care. Images of a young Hershey, his mother, and the shadowed presence of Auschwitz arrive precisely, deepen the emotional register, then step aside. Each image adds resonance and allows space for reflection, strengthening the experience without drawing focus away from it.
A master raconteur and modern salonier — guides the evening through music, memory and meaning.
Humor threads throughout — dry, knowing, lightly worn — balancing the weight of the themes with warmth and humanity. The tone remains open and generous, guided by curiosity and trust in our shared attention.
Staging supports the evening beautifully. Lighting, sound, and projections frame the performance with restraint and clarity. The Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts provides an ideal setting for this kind of listening theatre — intimate enough to feel personal, expansive enough for the piano to breathe.
By the end, our lasting impression comes from time spent inside a focused and alert mind. The Piano and Me leaves us engaged, enriched, and glad to have followed where the evening led.
Very highly recommended.
How to Get Tickets
Hershey Felder: The Piano and Me
📍 Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro Street, Mountain View
📅 January 17 – February 8, 2026
🎟️ Tickets: $34–$115
🌐 theatreworks.org
📞 877-662-8978
Each review is created through my proprietary FocusLens℠ method—an original editorial process shaped by firsthand experience, critical insight, and structured narrative design. Original photography, graphics, director quotes, and animated elements are incorporated to enhance reader engagement and visual impact. State-of-the-art scaffolding systems support organization and phrasing, but every sentence and decision reflects my own voice and judgment. These are not AI-generated reviews—they are authored, shaped, and published by me.
