sounds like now

Ok, this happened a couple of months ago, but it’s still funny. On February 16 I gave my New York debut recital at Columbia Unversity’s Miller Theater. After the performance, a group of family and friends made their way back to the green room to congratulate me. Among my friends was Anthony Iaffaldano, who I’ve known since kindergarten. After some hugs and handshakes Anthony asked me, “Who’s Alex Ross?” “Alex Ross is the music critic for The New Yorker,” I replied. (And then instantly, the following shot through my head: Whoa, was Alex Ross at my recital?! With Allan Kozinn from The New York Times and David Salvage of Sequenza21 reviewing the concert I thought I’d already hit a home run. But now Alex Ross was here too?! Hmm, he did have me on his agenda for the week . . .) And then Anthony snapped me out of my inner monologue by letting me know that someone had mistaken him for Alex Ross. Oh. Just then, David Salvage came in to say hello before heading home to his computer to write the review. “That’s the guy who thought I was Alex Ross,” Anthony informed me. Apparently David mistook my parents and other friends who hadn’t seen Anthony in a while–they were gathered around him, shaking his hand, and talking–for Alex Ross groupies. I guess if you haven’t met Alex and only know him by the picture on his website, it might be easy to mistake him for Anthony. You can’t really blame David, they do resemble each other. Take a look for yourself!

A certain music-loving community that lived on a certain block in a certain city was thrilled when a pianist moved into an apartment on their street. They were even more excited when the pianist put up a sign in his window that read: “The Nation’s Best Pianist.” The residents of the community enjoyed hearing him practice and felt a strong sense of pride upon reading the reviews of his concerts as his reputation began to grow.

Not too long after “The Nation’s Best Pianist” arrived on the block, another pianist rented an apartment in this music-loving community. After getting settled, he put up a sign in his window that read: “The World’s Best Pianist.” “Wow,” thought the memebers of the community, “We’ve got both the Nation’s and World’s Best Pianist living among us!” The new pianist’s career soared after he moved into his new apartment and he gained more international acclaim than he could have ever dreamed of.

Soon word about this music-loving community and their two famous pianists began to spread. Nobody could possibly move in and be better than their two resident pianists. After all, they were the Nation’s Best and World’s Best Pianists. Then one day another pianist rented an apartment in the music-loving community. The sign in his window read: “Best Pianist on the Block.”