Friday night Kent Shreeve will perform a solo piano concert, “Spellbound in October” in the Callaway Theatre. Tickets are $15 and all proceeds will be used to benefit the SAAC music program. Call 862-5474 to make reservations.
At the age of ten, Kent Shreeve was pressed by his mother to take piano lessons. At the age of 74, Shreeve had never even played for a recital. His first SAAC concert was a test of his resolve to overcome performance anxiety and to share his God given talent with others. A test he passed with flying colors to the bewitchment of all lucky enough to be present.
Helen Shreeve, like many mothers of the day, felt it was very important for her son, Kent, to learn to play the piano. Kent was not as enthusiastic about the idea, but to piano lessons he went. After one year of study under a West Helena piano teacher, he was promoted to study with a concert pianist, Mr. Gustav Nelson. Shreeve learned a lot with Mr. Nelson, who had the reputation of rapping silly students across the knuckles with his baton. To be fair, Shreeve said he never received anything but advice and encouragement from Mr. Nelson. However, Shreeve would manage to avoid the recitals he so dreaded until he left Mr. Nelson’s tutelage at the time he entered high school, even feigning illness to achieve that goal. At that point in his performing career, Shreeve began to play at his aunt’s dance school for pay. Shreeve enjoyed the exposure he gained to the beautiful ballet students, the money he earned playing for the tap classes, and the social experience of learning ballroom dance as an additional benefit. He felt the dancers captivated the attention of the audience, taking the spotlight off himself. Asked if he suffered any derisive remarks from his male peers about his work, Shreeve replied, “They made fun of me a bit, but I got paid pretty well for my after school job. I saved enough to buy a Jeep when I got my driver’s license. I also made up for it by being very active in the Boy Scouts, ultimately making Eagle Scout.” In addition to his paying job, Shreeve was invited to play with The Four Notes, a jazz band made up of teachers and adult musicians. In the midst of the band, Shreeve felt the scrutiny was removed from himself.
When Shreeve entered the U. of A., he became a member of the ROTC and was accepted into the Air Force Air Cadet Program. And so another love entered his life…aviation. Asked if he played the piano much during the college years, Shreeve answered he did not, although he became the song leader for his fraternity, Sigma Kai. Shreeve planned to be a bomber pilot, but he was one half inch too tall when seated to pass the physical. He served as a First Lieutenant civil engineer at Hanscom Field in Massachusetts from 1960 to 1963. He later went to work for Esso Refinery in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He bought a used upright piano there and began to play for his growing family. Along the way he upgraded to a Kimball baby grand piano which cost $400. He ultimately moved to Little Rock, Arkansas, and began his own consulting firm, Shreeve Consulting. To celebrate this leap of faith, he purchased a Model B Steinway Grand Piano, using about half of his cash reserve. He continued to play only for close friends and family. A stint as the alternate pianist at the First Christian Church in Little Rock only reinforced his dread of public playing.
Then a fateful event took place. The South Arkansas Arts Center made plans to add a permanent collection room onto the building. A civil engineer was needed to draw up the blue prints. Tom Mangum, local contractor and friend to the SAAC, called Shreeve in. After poking around the Monday Painter’s Room and the stage for a few moments, Shreeve discovered the climate controlled room where the SAAC’s Model B Steinway Grand Piano is housed. When asked by then director, Beth James, how much Shreeve’s fee might be, Shreeve replied, “If you will let me come in and play your piano when I am in town. That will be my reward.” A love affair between Shreeve and SAAC was formed.
Then in Little Rock, Shreeve heard that Richard Cox was making an appearance in Jonesboro to give a lecture about performance anxiety. Shreeve had never thought of his aversion to playing in public as having a name. But performance anxiety seemed to fit. He attended the lecture, and determined to try and change his attitude. Shreeve asked permission to play on the SAAC stage for a few friends. The performance was so very enjoyable that the attendees begged for more. In 2011, Shreeve put together a small band and two vocalists for the SAAC stage. The performance was fittingly named “June Romance”. The group offered a second performance in 2012 called “Romance in Concert”. Once again, the fans clamored for more. Among those in attendance was Dr. Ed. Henley. Henley sent Shreeve an extremely encouraging letter, saying “You had us spellbound.” Henley also requested that Shreeve perform a solo concert soon. Sadly, on the day Shreeve was able to come back to El Dorado and seek out Henley, Henley had suffered a cataclysmic health event. “I found myself getting into my truck in a trance and driving straight to Baptist Hospital in Little Rock. I found Sylvia Henley in the Emergency Room waiting area. I asked her to please tell Ed. how much his letter meant to me. I never knew if he realized it,” Shreeve remembered. And that brings us to the current day concert, named “Spellbound in October” and given in honor of Henley. According to Shreeve, three things were learned from this experience.
“When someone is nice to me, I need to thank them right away. If Ed. had not encouraged me to play alone, I never would have wanted to do it. If Ed. had not called me an ‘artist who loves his work,’ I would never have thought of myself as anything but a nuts and bolts guy, a little on the nerdy side.” Shreeve has come to the realization that a musician is the voice for the music’s composer, giving that composer’s work life and adding a bit of his own art. At seventy seven, life still has lessons and goals for Kent Shreeve.
