New Orleans violinist Samuel Thompson wasn’t thinking of himself or fame when he decided to pick up his instrument and tenderly roll out five minutes of Bach’s
Sonata No. 1 in G Minor to survivors of Hurricane Katrina, then huddled in the dark, stifling, Superdome.
Thompson was simply taking a request.
“A friend asked, ‘Sam, will you play something?’” he recalls, during a phone interview.
“So I played.”
He played to an audience of roughly 16,000, possibly his largest.
How many of them heard him, he still isn’t quite sure.
The image of the young man playing to his stranded audience on that late summer day captivated the country, a reminder that even in times of extreme duress, beauty can and will emerge.
Thompson is now in
Fort Worth, Texas, where he and hundreds of other exhausted evacuees had traveled together by bus caravan.
Shortly after his arrival, Thompson was able to get some substitute work with the San Antonio Symphony, but long-term plans remain unknown.
He felt like one of the lucky ones and remains concerned about the fate of so many friends without homes or jobs. His heart goes out to fellow members of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra and their still questionable future. Many were left with little or nothing – all or most of their belongings were destroyed in the floods that ravaged their hometown of New Orleans. Some relocated to other orchestras throughout the country.
While the now-famous images, captured by a newspaper photographer, of Thompson playing to hurricane survivors speak more of the virtues of humanity rather than of musical virtuosity, the 35-year-old violinist is actually an accomplished talent. His credits include the National Repertory Orchestra, Houston Grand Opera, Houston Ballet and the New World Symphony.
He played with the LPO during its 2002-2003 season and bonded with New Orleans. He chose to live there for the summer with plans to fly to Gorizia, Italy, on September 6 for the Rodolfo Lipizer International Violin competition. “Plans change,” he says.
Consequently, it was the competition that influenced Thompson to play Bach at the Superdome (he had prepared the piece for the competition), and three days later at the New Orleans Arena, where he played to a group of men and women evacuated from a local nursing home. He doesn’t remember is anyone clapped, but Thompson says, “Very strangely, it felt like the absolute right thing to do.”
A member of the National Guard thanked Thompson for giving people something to think about, even for five minutes. In the short, but intense time that the evacuees were together, Thompson recalls that strong bonds were immediately formed, and communication has continued. Once safely transported to Texas, hugs and well-wishes were exchanged as were promises to keep in touch.
While Thompson didn’t believe the experience of Hurricane Katrina would affect his playing, he did say it made him, like so many others, rethink so many elements of life. On at least one positive note he says, “It’s made me more determined to play.”
