Imagine Rotary

Earlier this year, I had the great honor and pleasure to attend President-Elect Training for my upcoming year as the President of the Rotary Club of Mystic CT. Over these two days, there were a number of very interesting and inspiring speakers, and in particular, Incoming Rotary International President Jennifer Jones’ keynote address. I was intrigued why she kept referencing the lyrics of my favorite song of all time, Imagine, then I came to understand later that the theme for the upcoming Rotary year is Imagine Rotary.  

About 5 years ago, after being married to an opera singer for 25 years (we just celebrated our 30-year anniversary) and having had a grand piano in our living room for most of that time, I decided it was time to learn how to play. I chose Imagine as the song to start the process, and after watching the YouTube video “How to Really Play Imagine” dozens of times, phrase by phrase, eventually I learned how to play it.

I have to say that I had been an amateur guitarist and songwriter all of my adult life, but this song was the impetus for me stepping outside my comfort zone to do something that I had been wanting to do for many years but was afraid to try. I also chose that song so that if it ever comes to a sing-along, that’s the song I want to share with everybody with its message of peace, equality and mutual understanding. I remember specifically after the terrorist nightclub attack in Paris in 2015 that a pianist played Imagine on the club’s blood-stained piano out on the street and brought those assembled some comfort and hope with that song – I wanted to be able to do that if the time ever came.

After a week or two, I managed to learn Imagine, then I moved on by transposing a few of my own guitar-based songs to the piano, and soon enough, I found that an entire new musical canvas had been opened to me that the guitar didn’t afford me. Since then, I have composed dozens of songs and even wrote my first musical “You’re Fired!” that was performed in January 2020 to two sold-out audiences and rave reviews – unfortunately COVID prevented the additional productions that were lined up in 2020. My second musical, “Phase Two” is an eco-thriller that deals with, among other things, the environment and sustainable development, but that is still a way off.

With Incoming President Jones’ charge of “What can I do?” ringing in my ears, shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, I felt a song coming on. Within a day or two, I wrote, edited and finished the words and music to Before Our Eyes. Several days later, I hastily recorded it with my wife singing and one of my best friends playing. Then, through the free-lance site, Fiverr, I commissioned three Ukrainian video-editors to create a video montage of the war through their eyes set to the song, and before the week was out, I had three amazing videos. The one that I chose to share on social media begins with a shot of a Ukrainian soldier playing a piano on the street in front of a bombed-out building (over my piano intro), reminiscent of that Imagine moment in Paris. The three minute video is “haunting,” “moving,” “powerful,” and just as importantly, accurate. At the end of the video I ask viewers to consider donating to several charities including Rotary’s Disaster Relief Fund, but above all else, to do something, ANYTHING, to let the world know that this is not right, and that they care. And so, as I prepare for my year as President of the Rotary Club of Mystic (CT), when I think of Imagine Rotary, I think of the power of putting our talents to work in ways we hadn’t yet imagined and of inspiring others to do the same.

Click the image below to watch the video “Before Our Eyes” on YouTube: