PORT ANGELES — When pianist Ken Young sits behind his Steinway piano, his fingers intertwine with the ebony and ivory keys — becoming a conduit to his soul.
And when performing the work of Johann Sebastian Bach — music especially dear to him — he gets lost in time and space in what could be described as a religious experience, he said.
“At my last recital when I really started to get into it . . . it was just me and the piano,” he said.
“That is when my playing is the best.”
Young, 58, of Port Angeles, will perform a piano recital at St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church, 132 E. 13th St., at 7 p.m. Saturday.
The recital is expected to last between 60 to 90 minutes with no intermission.
Street parking is available if the church parking lot is full.
Admission is free, although voluntary donations of any amount will be accepted.
Proceeds will benefit the Community Dinner fund, used to provide free dinners to underprivileged people every Wednesday evening at St. Matthew’s Church.
Typically, about 60 to 80 underprivileged individuals are served each Wednesday, according to church officials.
Performing at the recital is “a fun way to support our community by contributing to the Community Dinner fund,” Young said.
And, Young added, the “romantic” piano concert “will be the perfect place to bring your Valentine.”
For more information about the concert, or to listen to Young’s music, visit portangelespianist.com.
Young has performed in the Seattle area as a choral accompanist, vocal class accompanist, solo recitalist, theater accompanist, choral conductor and songwriter.
He also is the organist at St. Matthew’s Church, and a trumpeter with the Sequim City Band.
Young will perform a variety of classical and popular music, including a pair of waltzes by Frédéric François Chopin, a piece by Bach, a piano transcription of selections from Copland’s “Rodeo,” Louis Moreau Gottschalk’s 1851 masterpiece, “Souvenir de Porto Rico,” and a transcription of an Art Tatum performance of a Fats Waller tune.
“All of the music to be performed is special to me for a number of reasons,” Young said.
Young also will perform a selection of original work he penned himself.
Young’s own compositions seem to defy categorization, he said, so he labels them as “alternative.”
Some of his pieces even lack titles, so Young invites the audience to suggest names for them during the recital.
For those who have “heard everything and would like to hear something new for a change, my compositions will probably sound new to you,” he said.
During the recital, CDs of his album, “Renewal,” will be available to attendees.
Steinway
Young will perform on a 9-foot Steinway Model “D” concert grand piano that was recently relocated from his home to the church.
He purchased it new in 2005 from Sherman and Clay in Seattle, and it is now carefully maintained by Ira Langlois and Sons, he said.
Young said he thinks there can never be too many Steinway pianos in a community, and that many more people can enjoy this one in its current location than before.
The Steinway “might be the only such piano permanently situated in Port Angeles,” he said.
Homegrown
Young was raised in Port Angeles in the 1960s and 1970s, and has been playing music since he was 7 years old.
His first teacher was his mother, Rosalyn Young of Sequim, who most likely will attend the recital, he said.
He continued his music education under the tutelage of Ed Grier, Dave Hargrave, Richard McCoy, Marvin Pollard and James Van Horn, he said.
But eventually, he decided to switch career paths and became an engineer for Boeing.
He retired from that job in 2014, moving back to Port Angles to become the organist at St. Matthew’s Church.
Being an engineer “primarily just uses the left side of the brain,” he said.
“Music uses both sides.”
And while being an engineer did pay better than working as a musician, Young said he is at a point in his life where he can afford to follow his passion.
“That is exactly what I am doing,” he said.
