Ann Arbor piano teacher Renee Robbins was deeply touched when she heard Romel Joseph’s story on NPR last year. Blind from birth, Joseph became a violinist and educator, only to lose both his music school and his pregnant wife in the Haiti earthquake. Joseph was himself buried in rubble, with both legs mangled, his left hand broken, and his right hand pierced by nails.
Joseph recovered–and wanted to rebuild. So Robbins, former president of the Ann Arbor Piano Teachers Guild, organized a ten-hour “playathon” a year ago at the Kerrytown Concert House. Hundreds of young piano and string students performed and raised close to $10,000.
On Sunday, November 6, Robbins will finally meet Joseph–and perform with him in a classical music concert at Northside Community Church (see Events). She’ll also play a duo with Joseph’s daughter Victoria, a violist with the Miami Symphony. Between performances, says Robbins, “they’ll have a slide show about what happened and the vision for the future.” That vision includes a performing arts center in Port-au-Prince–which Joseph hopes to fund in large part through donations raised during his American concert tour.
