{"id":1764,"date":"2023-08-20T08:09:56","date_gmt":"2023-08-20T15:09:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/imho.kileozier.com\/?p=1764"},"modified":"2023-08-20T08:09:56","modified_gmt":"2023-08-20T15:09:56","slug":"a-private-concert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/imho.kileozier.com\/?p=1764","title":{"rendered":"A Private Concert"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Dateline; September 1986<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mission: Mayor Feinstein\u2019s Reception at San Francisco City Hall Rotunda for Philippine President Corazon Aquino.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cast: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

San Francisco Children\u2019s Chorus<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Presidio Honorary Color Guard<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Various and Sundry State and Civic Leaders<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joan Baez<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Producer\/Director: Me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About two weeks before the event, I met with Ms. Baez\u2019 Personal Assistant to walk through City Hall and talk through the program in situ<\/em>. A tall, imperious, all-business woman; she was as on top of things as any Secret Service I\u2019d ever worked with, before. All business and details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the walkthrough, we stood on the dais at the foot of the Grand Staircase (photo above) which serves as the \u201cstage\u201d for such civic ceremonies along with the spectacular stairway behind it, and talked through the program, entrances and exits, stage positions, et cetera. I asked if she could tell me what Ms. Baez planned to sing, so that I could place and frame it appropriately in the program. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The PA (I am sorry, I don\u2019t remember her name) told me she\u2019d ask Joan and let me  know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cool. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, I brought it up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo, Mayor Feinstein knows that President Aquino\u2019s favorite color is yellow, and would like for Joan to join the Children\u2019s Chorus in singing \u2018Tie a Yellow Ribbon (\u2018Round the Old Oak Tree)!\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She looked down at me and said, quite frostily and with a look of disdain on her face, \u201cI can ask her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI know,\u201d I said. \u201cI\u2019m being paid to ask such questions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She looked at me\u2026with a glint of sympathy\u2026\u201dI will ask.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few days later, the phone rang in my apartment (a land line). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHello?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m calling for Kile Ozier\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is Kile\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGood Morning, Kile! This is Joan Baez. I understand you need to know what I\u2019ll be singing for Cory Aquino, next week.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, Ms. Baez; I want to be sure to position it appropriately in the program.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGreat. I\u2019ll be singing \u201cOh, Freedom.\u201d It\u2019s the song I sing for Cory every time I perform for her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThank you! Can you tell me what album it\u2019s on? I have several of your albums, but I don\u2019t know that I have that song.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou won\u2019t be able to find it, as I\u2019ve never recorded it. Do you mind if I sing it for you, now?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUh\u2026\u201d I uttered, intelligently, \u201c\u2026not at all!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And she began to sing. Full on, full voice, full emotion\u2026not singing to give me a sense of the song; rather, singing The Song to me. I put my phone on speaker, leaned back against my kitchen counter and looked out the window at the garden below as her voice took flight and soared with her full-hearted notes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I could only stand there and marvel at the moment; that my life is such that something like this could just happen; unselfconsciously, unpretentiously and with complete and generous sincerity. It was beautiful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When she was finished, I thanked her and she said, \u201cYou are quite welcome, Kile; I\u2019ll see you next week at City Hall\u2026\u201d and hung up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(She did not mention \u201cTie a Yellow Ribbon\u2026\u201d)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Show Day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Rotunda is packed, the surrounding balcony is shoulder-to-shoulder, the Grand Staircase is full of children\u2019s chorus, myriad dignitaries and the Honor Guard up at the top. Energy is high.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joan (I did not call her that) meets me on the Mayor\u2019s Balcony so that I can wire her with her microphone. A warm and VERY pleasant greeting and handshake\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She is a beautiful woman. Exuding power, confidence, dignity\u2026and I\u2019ve been an ardent fan since 8th grade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m on my knees, hooking her battery pack to the belt of her dress as I hear, \u201cBy the way, Kile?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I look up, she\u2019s looking down at me\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTie a Yellow Ribbon\u2026\u201d?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I winced. \u201cYes?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNot my style.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<silence and quick thinking><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I stood up. \u201cWould you consider simply standing with the chorus as they sing it, Ms. Baez?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes. I will do that.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ceremony and performances proceeded to run without a hitch. Happy Audience, Happy Joan Baez, Happy Kile and the Mayor\u2019s Office of Protocol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the ceremony, the Mayor came up from her Front Row seat to the Mayor\u2019s Balcony, where my team and I were gathered in debrief and relief\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cKile, I couldn\u2019t hear Joan Baez singing \u201cTie a Yellow Ribbon\u2026\u201d with the chorus.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I opened my mouth to speak as my good friend and number one on all my Mayoral Show Teams, John Twomey, said, \u201cOh, you could hear her perfectly from up here; she was killer! It mush have something to do with the sound system and all this marble.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rest of the team (and the Protocol Officer) chimed in, \u201cYeah, she was great\u2026\u201d \u201cIt was perfect\u2026\u201d \u201cI can\u2019t believe you couldn\u2019t hear it on the floor!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh,\u201d she said, \u201cwell, that\u2019s too bad\u2026 Thank you.\u201d And she proceeded to her office. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had a great team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like No Business I Know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To Order: https:\/\/rivershorepress.com\/creative-catalyst<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dateline; September 1986 Mission: Mayor Feinstein\u2019s Reception at San Francisco City Hall Rotunda for Philippine President Corazon Aquino. Cast:  San Francisco Children\u2019s Chorus Presidio Honorary Color Guard Various and Sundry State and Civic Leaders Joan Baez Producer\/Director: Me. About two … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2oSuI-ss","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/imho.kileozier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1764","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/imho.kileozier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/imho.kileozier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imho.kileozier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imho.kileozier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1764"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/imho.kileozier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1764\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1769,"href":"https:\/\/imho.kileozier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1764\/revisions\/1769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/imho.kileozier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imho.kileozier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imho.kileozier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}