\u201cThat was so sweet,\u201d she said. \u201cHe\u2019s really a super guy. He comes from a great family. He was really well brought up. I sat there watching him and got kind of teary-eyed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Herstein has been playing piano since the age of 12, and still plays the Steinway grand her parents bought her. She graduated from studies to teaching at the Philadelphia Conservatory of Music until moving to NOLA in the 1960s with her husband. Later, she taught at Loyola University and Ridgewood Preparatory School, in addition to giving private lessons.<\/p>\n
Batiste grew up in a family of musicians, and was referred to Herstein through fellow student and friend Nick Sanders. Herstein immediately recognized that he would be a very special student. She described the experience of teaching such a talented student as, \u201clike a dream. It\u2019s so rare you get somebody like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s not to say that she was soft on the budding musical genius. When he started lessons, Batiste could not read music. He was able to play a music by ear nearly perfectly after hearing it only once \u2014 but she didn\u2019t let him off the hook.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I would give him a new piece, he used to say, \u2018Play it for me,\u2019\u201d Herstein told the reporter. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t let him do that. I got him out of that habit as quickly as I could. No shortcuts. You\u2019re going to figure it out and play it for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
She\u2019s firm in her belief that a solid foundation in classical music led to his later success, even if he later made the switch to jazz. \u201cThat\u2019s why Jon\u2019s so good. He has a good classical background.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s so rare you get somebody like that.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Herstein encouraged his interest in other musical genres, and would allow Batiste and Sanders to play jazz duets at their recitals instead of the usual classical repertoire. She\u00a0kept abreast of his career over the years. On a trip to NYC, Batiste got her tickets to a taping of The Late Show<\/em> and brought her backstage, and he still drops in from time to time when he’s in town visiting family.<\/p>\nThe octagenarian still teaches classical piano, albeit with a reduced schedule, just as she did years ago when she took on a new student in Jon Batiste. Herstein taught him for seven years, every Saturday through middle and high school until he graduated from St. Augustine High School and the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts in 2004.<\/p>\n
Batiste released his first album at the age of 17, while still in high school, and went on to the Julliard School in New York, where he got his Bachelor’s in 2011 and a Master of Music degree in 2013. After a rapid rise as a soloist and performer in his own right, he became bandleader and musical director on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert<\/em> in 2015. He regularly tours with his own band, and is also known for his acting work.<\/p>\nHe shows off his classical chops in a head-to-head Chopsticks<\/em> battle with Lang Lang in 2019:<\/p>\n
![\"Jon_Batiste\"](\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/05\/Jon_Batiste.jpg\")
<\/p>\n