High Point All-American Democrat Sings
by Dusty Schoch (DW Foreign Policy Editor) Fantasia…who? Now think about it: Would we rather have a citizen of our town become an American Idol, or be a true American Hero and ambassador of good will for our Old North State and our Furniture City of High Point? Well, Tony Griffey has just done that for High Point, and after he did it, the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court gave him special commendations, and even had Tony’s mother take a bow, in the concert hall of the Library of Congress in our nation’s capitol. This past May 24th (2006), yet another “American Idol” was crowned on the Fox TV show. On the previous Wednesday (May 17), at the invitation of U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Tony Griffey and a select troop of fellow international performers of classic music rendered a wonderful and complex program of classical music from Ravel to Rogers and Hammerstein before the most auspicious panel of jurists (our U.S. Supreme Court) and dignitaries in Washington, D.C. And why do I apply “American Hero” instead of “idol” to Tony as a result of all this? Because Tony Griffey, has once again generously served, honored, and honorably served his home town and Country by freely sharing his musical gifts for love instead of money. I say “once again” because it’s the second time this dedicated High Point Democrat has given performances for the good of his local and national communities in the past six months. I’m proud to say I was a witness–and in a minor way involved—in both events. The first was in High Point. As a volunteer, I conducted the legal aid clinic in High Point’s Open Door Ministries Shelter, where last year I learned the budget there was failing to provide the funds necessary to remediate an extensive mold problem they were contending with. I no more than mentioned the situation and the shelter’s roughly $10,000 shortfall in its winter tills to my friend Tony one week, and learn the next that he has arranged with Shelter manager Steve Key to make the H.P. shelter the sole beneficiary of Tony’s solo Christmas concert which took place at his First Baptist Church on December 21. Long story short – Tony’s love offering of his talent on that night cured our town’s shortfall in funds and then some, thanks to love offerings received for his inspired performance that night. For a commission affording only travel expenses and honorarium, Tony Griffey heeded his nation’s call, prepared and rehearsed an extremely complex musical program on his own considerable time (and expense), and contributed the better part of 3 days in completing the social and performing parts of the non-public musicale. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg this year directed the U.S. Supreme Court-sponsored concert called “Music at the Supreme Court”. You didn’t read about it because it is officially an “unofficial event” for the Supreme Court and the media is cordially uninvited. This accounts for your having to glean this story from my humble, but eye-witness accounting (and photography, I might add.) The Musicale was inaugurated in 1988 and arranged in its early years by retired Justice, Sandra Day O’Connor, who was graciously in attendance last Wednesday. Tony and Justice Ginsburg go back some years as friends and mutual fans. Each has a photograph of the other in his/her libraries (see photo of Tony proudly standing by Ruth’s photo of Tony in the library of her U.S. Supreme Court chamber). Few international performers are able to boast that Justice Ruth Ginsburg personally flew (with her husband) to Santa Fe, New Mexico for the sole purpose of attending a single operatic performance. Ginsburg is especially fond of Tony’s portrayal of the lead-character role in the opera, “Peter Grimes”. Tony’s D.C. performance was complemented by the accompaniment of his virtuoso pianist friend, Margo Garrett, who despite (privately) professing to “at least 3 mistakes”, fooled the erudite crowd into perceiving her performance as embodied perfection. From his penultimate composer, Samuel Barber, Tony purposefully rendered “I Hear an Army” for the closed audition of the Supreme Court of the U.S., with the members thereof and an estimated 500 dignitaries as friends and entourage of the court (not counting the innumerable and ubiquitous Secret Service gens d’armes interspersed in the moderate-size but elegant concert hall) in attendance. Tony’s tenor performance, which was comprised of 9 songs from five different composers, was preceded by violinist celeb Jennifer Koh, with Reiko Uchida on piano. A colleague, soprano, Harolyn Blackwell followed Tony with songs from Mozart, Bernstein and Rogers and Hammerstein, concluding with the latter’s “Out of My Dreams”. To wind up the show, Harolyn Blackwell surprised Ginsburg with beginning, as a response to unequivocal encore applause, the song “Tonight” from Broadway’s “West Side Story”. Halfway through the second stanza Tony emerges and the audience is enraptured by the delightful duet that follows, capping the show and totally capturing the hearts of the audience—especially Ginsburg, who informed her audience that she, quite delightfully, had been supplied no advance notice of Tony’s encore preparation. Clearly ebullient with the energy infused by the collective wonders of the musicale performances, especially the Griffey/Blackwell surprise encore, Chief Justice John Glover Roberts, Jr. took the podium and, after praising Justice Ginsburg for her fine program constructing, made a series of very entertaining comments. The entrée to his closing remarks informed the audience that by coincidence his youngest daughter had just entered the performing arts. He continued and drew howls of approval when he confessed the child had just completed her second six-week term of piano lessons and had virtually mastered the “chop sticks” concerto. During the introductory on-stage colloquy between Justice Ginsburg and Chief Justice Roberts, the Justices had Tony’s mother, Joyce Griffey stand up in the audience and accept notice and commendations for her son’s performance, during which interlude the Justice, heaping accolades on her Democratic friend, Tony Griffey, mentioned that Tony and his mother hailed from the “Furniture Capital of the World…the N.C. City of High Point.” SIDEBAR OF INTEREST: The photo (here captioned “R.B. Ginsburg and the
Bear”) involves an exchange taking place after the concert, during Justice Ginsburg’s personally guiding us through the Supreme Court and into her private chambers. As I snapped that photo, Justice Ginsburg was responding to a question one of Tony’s friends posed to her. The friend was looking at a collection of whimsical memorabilia on one of Justice Ginsburg’s library tables and posed some query about the medium-sized teddy bear which sat most prominently among the creatures displayed on the same table. After a moment’s reflection, Justice Ginsburg said, “I keep the bear there to remind me not to take myself so seriously.” Quite remarkable and indelibly memorable. I and the rest of Tony’s entourage were proud to have been beneficiaries of such a rare glimpse into the unofficial musings of this exceptional jurist, and national asset. Tony Griffey has once again given the City of High Point good reason to be grateful and to be proud. I think I may have answered my lead (above) question, at least to my own satisfaction. As between “American Idol” and “American Hero”….I think I’d rather have an American hero for a fellow High Pointer and friend. Quite frankly I think High Point could rightfully claim that their Tony Griffey is both.
Tony and retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor at the reception, Library of Congress ballroom. Let’s all be grateful to Tony G (and the Supremes!) for putting the City of High Point in some extremely noble and illustrious light. And, in case no one else bothered to say it for us all , Tony, thanks. The High Point Open Door Ministries thanks you; the Supreme Court of the U.S. thanks you, and your fellow citizens of High Point and N.C. thank you for doing your thing—and, for making us proud. Dusty Schoch May 29, 2006 *“ENTERPRISING” EDITORIAL FOOTNOTE: For those of you who subscribe to the H.P. Enterprise, please note that this article was originally written by me for publication by the Enterprise immediately after Tony G.’s performance before the Supreme Court in the Concert Hall of the Library of Congress. The story was entirely a national exclusive as the world’s press corps were specifically excluded from this private concert of the Supreme Court and some 900-to 1200 select dignitaries and friends of the Court. The photos illustrating this DW exclusive will never appear in any other media. Within a week or so of submitting the present accounting of Griffey’s concert before the “Supremes”, High Point Enterprise editors published on their front page a picture of a woman in a filling station selling the new State-Sanctioned lottery tickets, sporting a T-shirt which read: “Dine at Muffie’s Smorgasborg….Where you will enjoy our spread.” This picture story (lottery tickets at Muffie’s) took up half the paper’s front page. Soon thereafter, the Editors of the High Point Enterprise decided the story of High Point native international celebrity singer Tony Griffey’s (webstie: Anthonydeangriffey.com) command performance before and partying with the Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States was, in their estimation, not newsworthy. I hope this gives some of you readers out there a rough idea of why I cancelled my subscription to out city’s only newspaper.
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