Next week, on October 22, the Library of Congress National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) will present a concert by jazz pianist and NLS patron Justin Kauflin in the Coolidge Auditorium at 7:15 p.m.
The performance is a celebration of 50 years of the Music Section, which provides braille scores and other music materials for the blind and visually impaired.
Kauflin has been a member of NLS for over 15 years, and we have had the good fortune to witness his amazing musical growth and journey.
We here at NLS were lucky to have this talented musician as one of our patrons as he began to read braille music. Over the years, we have been able to see his musical talents bloom, and we are lucky to have had a part in his growth into a professional musician.
Kauflin is featured in the just-released Quincy Jones-produced documentary Keep On Keepin’ On, which follows the relationship between Kauflin and his mentor, jazz trumpeter Clark Terry (winner of 2010′s GRAMMY Award for Lifetime Achievement in Jazz). The movie is a brilliant and sensitive examination of the relationship between the two musicians, as Terry begins to cope with his own diabetes-related vision loss. The award-winning movie is now showing in select theaters nationwide. This week it is showing in the DC suburb of Silver Spring, MD, at the AFI theater.
The concert at the Library of Congress will feature Kauflin on solo piano playing some of his favorite charts. Those of us here in the Music Section at NLS are extremely happy to see one of our patrons play in the Coolidge Auditorium. His performance should not be missed!
Event Listing
Justin Kauflin in concert at the Library of Congress
Wednesday, October 22, 2014, 7:15pm
Coolidge Auditorium, Thomas Jefferson Building
Free and open to the public, no tickets required
Update: There will also be a Q&A with the artist at 6:00pm in the Whittall Pavilion in the Thomas Jefferson Building the night of the concert (10/22/2014).