FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM OCTOBER 4, 2018 • BUZZ • THE QUEENS COURIER 71
Artist extraordinaire
harmony. He truly blew me away
with his talents.
He plays the melodica, a handheld,
harmonica-like keyboard
that makes a remarkable sound.
It’s about 18 inches long, and
has a slot for one hand to hold
it and the other to hit the keys
and make its sweet sound while
blowing air into it.
Batiste grew up steeped in the
New Orleans jazz world into
a family of musicians. At the
age of 8, he was already playing
drums and other percussion
instruments with his family
band. By 11, he turned to the
piano and perfected his talents.
As a young man, he composed
for choir jazz combos.
Congressman Tom Suozzi, LIU President Kim Cline and the Krasnoff family
(Photo by Steve Fenn)
Roger Tilles, Angel Cepeda and Steve Klar
His talents as a musician,
bandleader and TV personality
are enormous. He took our
audience by storm singing the
songs of jazz greats like Louis
Armstrong. Batiste sat with
audience members while singing
was!
It was great to see LIU
President Kim Cline joyously
greeting the VIP guests including
the charismatic Congressman
Tom Suozzi, the Krasnoff family
Tilles, whose family name has
adorned the important cultural
institution for decades.
Roger is embroiled in the education
work on the Board of Regents as
well as his involvement in significant
groups. It was good to see him
again. He has much to be proud
of in his involvement with Long
Island University.
The beautiful Krasnoff Theatre
has been reborn as a great cultural
enhance all of our lives for many
years to come.
The Krasnoff family helped dedicate the Krasnoff Theatre at the Tilles Center
Jon Batiste got the crowd at the Krasnoff Theatre moving with his melodica
DYNAMIC DENTAL WORK
���������������� Dr. Adam Lublin is an Elite Top 1% Preferred Provider
VICTORIA’S
SECRETS
ETS
Victoria
SCHNEPSYUNIS
vschneps@gmail.com
m
tweet me @vschneps
I made a great discovery
Friday night while attending
the official unveiling of
the new Krasnoff Theatre at the
spectacular Tilles Center on the
campus of LIU Long Island.
To help usher in a new era
with the Krasnoff Theatre as a
space that was fully renovated
and gutted from floor to ceiling,
LIU brought in the remarkably
talented musician and
entertain extraordinaire, Jon
Batiste. Since I don’t stay up
late on weeknights,
I wasn’t
familiar with
his talents, as
seen nightly on
“The Late Show
with Stephen
Colbert.”
Batiste is
a masterful
musician
with degrees
from Julliard
and he made
the theater’s
newly minted
Steinway piano
keys come
alive. He also lit up the audience
as I’ve never seen before, literally
jumping into the crowd and getting
us all singing in a three-part
with them. What a night it
and the indomitable Roger
world through his endless
interfaith, Jewish and arts
institution, and it will
������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
link
