Ethan McGrath
Unless you just happened to know of his scheduled concert at First Baptist Church Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m., it is possible that you missed one of finest concerts of the year in Chattanooga.
One of Chattanooga's best kept secrets, Ethan McGrath, played an assortment of standard concert repertory for a small audience in the chapel of First Baptist.
Three thoughts permeated my mind as I listened to virtually perfect music from a variety of music historical periods that was performed. One, I have never heard such sensitive playing live before. Two, this young man is a musical genius. Three, so this is what a piano is supposed to sound like. Music poured forth from that instrument as perpetual froth from an effervescent fountain.
Somewhere, in short order, there is a wonderful future ahead for this extraordinary musician. A long list of life's failures are highlighted in his Bio on his web site: http://www.ethanmcgrath.com/about.html. His back-door approach at tooting his own horn is emblematic of a humble, struggling and rising artist.
We will hear a great deal more from this serious artist, composer, arranger, pianist and Chattanoogan.