Grammy-Nominated Pianist To Perform In Kew Gardens

KEW GARDENS, QUEENS -- It's not easy becoming a renowned classical musician when you've lost hearing in both ears - Just ask David Holzman. No really, he wants you to.

The Grammy-nominated pianist and Queens native will perform at the Friends of Maple Grove cemetery in Kew Gardens on Saturday, which also happens to be World Hearing Day. That's why during the concert, Holzman plans to share stories of his own career as a hearing-impaired musician and take questions from the audience about the struggles he overcame.

"I hope people can ask as many questions as possible, because virtually everyone at a certain point has handicaps," Holzman told Patch.

"I want to show them how I compensated for my deafness - with my fingers, with my shoulders, with my brain. My body became my hearing."

Holzman, 68, said he lost nearly all hearing in one ear at 8 years old after coming down with the flu. It didn't stop him from learning to play classical music on the piano at a young age.

"It's what I loved from my earliest days," he said. "I started playing when I was about 12 years old."

Despite losing 90 percent of his hearing in one ear, Holzman said he largely tried to ignore his impairment and pursue a career as a pianist.

"For about 30 years, I got by with one ear," he said. "When you're young, I think you sort of like to pretend you're fine, but I wasn't fine."

But his hearing impairment would soon become impossible to ignore when, at around 40 years old, Holzman suffered a seizure while riding his bike without a helmet. It cost him the hearing in his other ear, he said.

"I couldn't pretend any longer," he said. "It meant, as as pianist, I had to overcome the fact that I couldn't hear."

But facing that reality forced Holzman to get creative in the way he played music. He described learning to put his entire body into playing the piano, swaying and moving his mouth to recognize the notes his ears couldn't.

"It takes a long time to overcome and it's easy to lose your faith, but with the help of my doctors and friends I didn’t," Holzman said. 'It’s a hard journey, but it’s worth it."

The journey paid off for Holzman, who went on to enjoy a successful career as as a classical pianist. One of his CDs, "Stefan Wolpe: Compositions for Piano," even earned a Grammy nomination in 2002 and an Indie Award for best classical album in 2003.

Around two years ago, Holzman was able to get a cochlear implant in one ear and a hearing aide in the other to regain some of his hearing. Learning to perform with them is still a challenge, but Holzman said he cherishes being able to hear the sound of his own music again.

He plans to play everything from folk to romantic to modern music during his performance at Friends of Maple Grove, at 127-15 Kew Gardens Road, on Saturday from 4 to 5:30 p.m. He hopes talking openly about his hearing impairment there will help others in the audience overcome struggles with their own disabilities.

"I want to talk about this, because most people I meet are either embarrassed of it or don’t know how to put what they’re going through into words," he said.

The concert, which will be followed by a wine and cheese reception, is free to those who RSVP to info@friendsofmaplegrove.org or $5 at the door.

Lead photo courtesy of David Holzman.