Some "high culture" artists look down at popular music, but Le San brings it into his compositions. Some proud musicians resent performing except in polished halls, but Le San performs two or three times each month in many kinds of venues, both for financial and ministry reasons: "I love to play for kids at schools. I love to play in retirement communities: They hug me and give me inspiration."

Nevertheless, Carnegie Hall is special: Just days before the concert, he told me, "I need to be in the best shape of my life." And then, on the last Saturday in June, dressed in the pianist's classic tailcoat, Le San strode onto a stage with a Steinway grand under a vaulted ceiling. He fluently opened with Beethoven and closed with Liszt. In between he played Chopin and Rachmaninoff, noting their emigrations: Chopin left Poland (Russian oppression was severe) and Rachmaninoff left Russia in 1917 when Communists seized power.

Le San also played two of his own compositions. His Noctazia emphasizes the vibrating particles in a universe created like a musical composition—and the vibrations could be felt in the fifth row. His world premiere piece, The Voices of My Town, incorporated music from Colombian culture, tango tunes, and elements of jazz and blues (see the Bill Edgar interview on p. 28). The audience loved it. "I was happy," Le San said later: "The audience was great."

The musician who was once driven and insensitive now wants to share his gift with all kinds of people. He has a humble con¬fidence that perhaps comes with the favorite quotation he lists on his Facebook page in reference to God: "If I am for you who can be against you?"