Shows

The Piano Guys

THE CHICAGO SHOW AT THE ATHENAEUM THEATRE IS BEING POSTPONED TO APRIL 13, 2023. TICKETS PURCHASED FOR THIS SATURDAY’S SHOW WILL BE HONORED IN APRIL. 

A Note from Steven:

My Dear Friends,

We need to postpone our upcoming October Tour.

Many of you know a little about my hero. I’ve told his story countless times on stage in our shows. My sweet Dad is approaching the end of his beautiful life. I don’t know how much time we have left with him. It could be days or only hours. I need to be with him and my family. I ask for your understanding and your prayers.

Today, with tears in my eyes, I played my cello for him. I played “Fight Song/Amazing Grace” because he inspired it. He taught me that when the fights of our life grow too fierce to fight on our own, we can turn them over to Grace and let Grace do the fighting for us. He raised me and my five siblings, all while caring for my mother as she suffered with a brain tumor for 18 years. Then, he served as caregiver again for my “bonus mom” as she struggled with cancer for many years. He then battled dementia, still somehow managing to smile and crack a joke whenever he had enough energy to do so.

He has done so many great things in his life, but it’s the little things I remember most — like when he’d tap his pencil on my music stand, serving as a human metronome, or play his viola alongside me during my grueling practice sessions. My Dad never missed one of my cello lessons. He’d bribe me with a 7-eleven run each week to take the edge off. He was so patient with my ADHD as I struggled to find my flow. He believed in me, even when there was little to believe in. No one could have ever imagined I’d play Carnegie Hall. He was there when we did. I tearfully thanked him from the stage and, to my shock, he stood up spontaneously in the middle of the audience, waved his hand like royalty in a parade and said with a knowing smirk, “Thank you. Thank you very much.”

Thank you, Daddy, my capeless superhero. I love you. Mom, with her angelic voice, has been waiting a long time for some backup viola. When it’s time for me to add cello, I know I’ll be with you both again when “God shall wipe away all tears from [our] eyes.”

To my friends who have tickets to our upcoming October shows, I’m so sorry that this means we will need to postpone. This makes me so sad, but I know what kind of people you are. You wouldn’t hesitate to tell me to be home — to be with my family, where life is best lived and what our music has always been about.

I love you all. Thank you for your prayers, your understanding and your selfless support. As you’ve supported me so generously, you have truly honored him.

Steven Sharp Nelson

Tickets Here: https://athenaeumcenter.org/events/2022/the-piano-guys/