This week's Art Talk Monday written by John Emory, Jr., President of the Dixie Center for the Arts. Salvadore Liberto has been writing, recording, and performing original music for over twenty years. He’s released four studio albums and has played at many performing arts centers, theaters and colleges across the United States. I was first introduced to the music of the gifted musician as he performed at the Charles W. Eismann Center for Performing Arts in Richardson, Texas. I knew immediately that he would be a great addition to the Dixie Center concert series.
He’s been compared to Elton John, George Winston and other wonderful pianists, singers, and songwriters who also perform brilliantly and with similar levels of passion. “Lives were changed when someone sang,” Salvadore sings. And they were, and are, and always will be. His music gives flight to universal thoughts and feelings, his passions and his ideas and reflections.
While the piano, the melodies, and the singing are all great and memorable, it’s his magic that makes it all personal. His baritone voice invites the listener to reflect on one’s own experiences, callings and purpose for being, loss and pain, and redemption and bliss. As the show progresses, you begin to see your life in his lyrics. To whet our appetite I’ll share with you some of the songs you’ll hear during the performance. Elton John’s “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” and “Daniel” are always favorites in addition to the very familiar “You Raise Me Up” and “Variations on Canon” by John Pachelbel.
During Sal’s personal journey at the keyboard songs include “Beyond Beveled Doors”, a song of incredible longing influenced by St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans, “Now’s the Time”, a song about at last answering our callings, and “Uncle Luigi”, inspired by the generations that came before us. Maybe it’s the passion and goodwill that Sal offers that makes his show so powerful. Or maybe it’s the songs themselves, rife with memorable characters, lines, and melodies. Or perhaps in the end it’s that he offers us in his performance a gift…a glimpse into ourselves.
Please join us at the Dixie Center for the Arts as we experience an evening that won’t soon be forgotten. Doors open at 6:00, Thursday, January 24, with the concert at 7:00. I guarantee you will enjoy getting to know Salvadore Liberto. Sal and his wife, Amy, live just west of New Orleans in River Ridge, Louisiana with their two daughters, Lilly and Emery. In addition to his work as a musician and composer, he’s an administrator at Loyola University New Orleans.
Admission for the concert is by season ticket or $10.00 at the door. All seats are reserved. To place ticket orders early, please call the Dixie Box Office at 255-1450.