| After almost three weeks ‘on the road’ Roy Eaton and I bade each other farewell at Sydney International Airport on 26th February. He thoroughly enjoyed all aspects of his visit, including his performances, his hosts, the people he met and the sightseeing in Canberra and Sydney. So much so that he plans to return in the near future with his wife, Barbara, and 11 year old twins, Ravi and Avi. He said ‘returning to a freezing New York will be fine because I am taking with me the warmth of Australia’s Polish community.’
View the photo gallery - enjoy it!
Listen to Dorota Banasiak's interview with Roy - in English, in Polish and if you wish you may read the transcript
Ever since the day in July 1957 when Roy regained consciousness from a 6 day coma after a car accident during which medical authorities had pronounced him dead, he has been on a spiritual journey that helped bring him to Australia. Being musically gifted he believes that God spared both his life and hands so he could use the spiritual dimension of music to promote peace on Earth and the recognition by all people that under the Fatherhood of God we are all brothers and sisters.
In his ‘I Play for Peace’ album Mr Eaton says ‘I am a firm believer in the power of music to reveal to us the essence of being.’ In effect Roy wants to inspire us to find the God within ourselves and discover the latent talent we each have been gifted with to enhance the lives of people we come in contact with and by doing so, our own lives are also enriched. A central component to this ideal is the music of Chopin. Commenting on his ‘Meditative Chopin’ recitals Roy says ‘I created the concert format in order to bring people closer to what I feel was the original intent on Chopin music – to help the listener experience “unboundedness”.’
Interestingly, to a large extent Mr Eaton’s perceptions parallel those of Ignacy Jan Paderewski in his famous discourse on Chopin:
The energy of the Universe knows no respite, it resounds unceasingly through Time and Space; its manifestation, rhythm, by the law of God keeps order in all worlds, maintains the cosmic harmony. God's melodies flow on unbroken across starry spaces, along Milky Ways, amid worlds beyond worlds, through spheres human and superhuman, creating that wondrous and eternal unity, the Harmony of Universal Being. Excerpted from: Chopin: A Discourse by Ignacy Jan Paderewski, translated by Laurence Alma Tadema, Polish Music Journal Vol. 4, No. 2, Winter 2001.
Although the weather posed problems at the outdoor recital in front of the Strzelecki Monument at Jindabyne on the evening of the 23rd of February, the audience at Dreamlights: Kosciuszko Festival 2013 was much more homogenous, knowledgeable and receptive than the one that Mr Eaton played before at the Canberra Multicultural Festival on the 16th of February. (See my Puls article about this event).
Eta Rogoyska, who runs Canberra’s White Eagle Club, concluded that one of the main reasons Roy was getting such a warm response from his listeners was his ability to concisely and meaningfully talk about the pieces he was performing, as well as blending the history of the ‘Kosciuszko Will’ into his delivery. Mr Eaton’s ‘what if’ hypothetical that the US Civil War may have been averted if only the Will’s executor, Thomas Jefferson, one of America’s Founding Fathers, a man of immense stature and influence at the time, had not reneged on his oath, evoked much interest in the primarily Polish audience.
Jefferson had agreed to use Kosciuszko’s American assets to buy the freedom of slaves (Jefferson’s own first), and to fund the purchase of land, tools, stock and the like for them to work as well as paying for their education in farm practices, thereby giving them a potentially good future.
Particularly warmly received by the audience was Mr Eaton’s point that Sir Paul Edmund Strzelecki crossed different Aboriginal territories by asking for and gaining permission from tribal elders and not entering by force of arms, which was in stark contrast to the approach taken by other explorers of Australia.
Mr Eaton’s last Australian performance was at Holy Family Polish Nursing Home, Marayong, to an audience of about fifty dementia patients accompanied by some of the nurses taking care of them. This to me was the highlight of Roy’s visit to Australia. I was especially touched by the great empathy he exuded and the respect he gave to this ‘special needs’ audience. For about ninety minutes he enhanced the lives of patients that live only in the moment. When I said this to Roy it surprised me that he agreed with my opinion. However, after I thought about it a little, it made sense because I had observed firsthand the empathy Roy has for people as well as the fact that his eldest son suffered a severe brain injury after a serious car accident resulting in a dementia like condition.
Roy has written in Puls Polonii about his visit to Sydney Opera House and the meeting with Auntie Rae and her family, together with Ernestyna, Andrzej and Felix from Kosciuszko Heritage Inc. In the three days of free time available before Dreamlights: Kosciuszko Festival 2013, Roy and I did some sightseeing. On the 18th we visited Featherdale Park in Doonside, to give Roy the opportunity to get up close to quintessential Australian wildlife. This was followed by a taste of quintessential lifestyle at the Blacktown Workers Club before going to the Blue Mountains to see the Three Sisters. Unfortunately the Scenic Railway is being replaced and we had to use the Cable Way instead.
Next day we ventured to the Sydney CBD where I showed Roy one of Sydney’s less well known monuments. Arthur Stace was a Sydney example of the effect of spiritual enlightenment. Although not inspired by music, ‘Mr Eternity' was able to redeem himself from a life of petty crime to become a devoted evangelist. Stace hadn’t learned to write and was even unable to print his own name. However after converting to Christianity and hearing the word ‘eternity’ repeated constantly in a homily, suddenly he was able to write this one word in beautiful copperplate script. For the rest of his life he arose early and inscribed ‘Eternity’ in yellow chalk on the pavements of Sydney. It inspired many people to pause for thought and reflect: ‘Quo Vadis’. During the Year 2000 millennium and Sydney Olympic Games celebrations the fireworks portrayed the word ‘Eternity’ on Sydney Harbour Bridge in Stace’s honour. There took photos of the plaque to him in front of a water cascade located at Sydney Square, between St Andrews and Town Hall.
From Sydney Square we shuffled on through Hyde Park, took photographs of the Archibald Fountain, had some coffee at Starbucks before walking into the Sydney Conservatorium of Music to visit the Dean, unknown and unannounced! The sightseeing ended with a walk past Government House, ending at the Opera House for a few quick snaps. Using his steady shuffle Roy was able to walk from Mid-Town Sydney to the most northern tip of the Opera House – not bad for an 83 year old. Certainly impossible to do the equivalent in New York, and not without hearing a lot of honking by impatient drivers!
Felix Molski
Gallery of photos is being made. A link to it will be provided once it is ready.
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