Joseph "Joe" Patrych

Remember Joe Patrych, shared December 21, 2023 Joe Patrych, recording engineer and artistic director of Sunday Evenings at Klavierhaus, breathed New York piano recitals. He knew everyone and what they played in what year. I was talking to Joe last Saturday just before his heart attack. While he felt concerned about his health, he spoke with such energy and clarity that I did not see this coming. On our last ride home from Klavierhaus, Joe wanted me to hear on YouTube a secret recording of Shura Cherkassky's Chopin Op. 2 at Carnegie Hall in 1993. We were actually both in that audience, but it wasn't until my undergrad years at Juilliard that we met. When I moved back to NYC during the pandemic, he had remembered my William Kapell win in Baltimore, and we picked up on his storytelling and our shared passion for live performance. At the same time, Sujatri Riesinger had invited me to be artist in residence at Klavierhaus, which Joe had lovingly outfitted with the latest audio/visual and livestreaming equipment with sound engineer James Wu. Recently, I shared his remastered recording of Horowitz playing the Liszt Sonata at Carnegie Hall in 1978 with my online Conscious Listening™ Café. Joe had told me that because his recording company had already recorded that piece, they did not want to spend more money to record the concert. Compare this wild abandon onstage to the manicured studio recording, and we hear how these incredible stolen moments of history challenge what we think is possible. Joe was going to present my recital and then lecture at my Find Your Flow piano intensive at Klavierhaus this March. His topic was on how recordings have shaped piano performance. We were going to be co-conspirators in getting people to listen more carefully, more deeply. With his passing, my community has lost a vital link in the continuity of music history in New York City. He cared deeply about music and invested fully in the future of young pianists. He will be missed.