The Oneida Crisis Center held its annual fundraising event last Friday, and the organizers decided to try something a bit different.  In the past, the Gala has featured a dinner and auction, along with speeches and recognition for the staff and community.

This year, the Center envisioned something more audience-oriented, and brought in a high-energy pair of musicians for a “Dueling Piano” concert that generated megawatts of entertainment for everyone who attended.

New Crisis Center Director Malena Jimenez, along with former Director Holly Llewellyn, Jade Curtis, Emily Nelson, and many current and past board members were on hand at the event for a night of food, friends, and music.  

Raffle item baskets were put together by a large number of amazing sponsors for the event, and included things such as an eBike, mountain bikes, Jazz tickets, theatre and concert tickets, tools, clothing items and blankets, zoo passes, a pizza oven, and too many more things to list out.  The range and quality of the donations demonstrated the strong support for the Crisis Center in the community, and resulted in some heavily raffled items.  

A taco bar was set up to feed the masses prior to the event.

The show itself was put on by Rock It, Man entertainment, featuring accomplished players Sydney Stephan and Gordon Von.  Not only is Sydney from Idaho (“I love being an Idaho girl!” she said), but her mother was able to accompany her from her home in Eagle, just outside of Boise.  

The musicians in the Dueling Pianos group are from all over the United States, and play in a variety of professional engagements throughout the year, including cruise ships, corporate events, and other gatherings.  In order to be able to perform the way that they do, the musicians have to be quick on their toes, and have a wide range of musical styles at their disposal.  

During the performance, Sydney and Gordon asked audience members to fill out request slips containing any song or artist they wanted to hear, and turning it in with a donation.  Due to the nature of the evening, the donations were given directly to the Crisis Center, rather than the artists.  Nevertheless, donations resulted in being able to ask for more from the players, which included the hospital donating funds to have Tyson Daniels sing “Take Me Out to The Ballgame…” twice!  He did an admirable job, it can be reported.

The range of songs performed was wide, with a number of contemporary hits taking their place alongside the tried and true classics of country, pop, rock, and soul from the last sixty or so years, in addition to at least one classical piece.

In almost every case, the two were able to play the requested song.  Most of the time they were already familiar with the music, and in the cases where they weren’t, they were able to very quickly pick them up after reading through the notation.  In just a couple of cases, they were not able to find either the song or the artist requested, and substituted something similar that they did know.

Over the course of the evening, such artists as Shania Twain, Michael Jackson, the Righteous Brothers, Patsy Cline, Gloria Gaynor, Elton John, the cast of Grease, John Denver, Bob Seger, and many more brought the audience together, singing along and supporting a good cause.

“If you are deciding whether to do this again next year, I’m a yes vote,” Nell Redfield’s John Williams said.  

For those who love piano playing, pop music, virtuosity, entertainment, and the good things that the Crisis Center brings to the community, the night was a solid win.  Malena Jimenez indicated at the end of the evening that yes, they were planning something similar for next year.