Feel Good Friday: Stump the Maestro

It began last March when the coronavirus locked them down in a one-bedroom apartment near Miami and is still going strong.

Name a show tune, jazz standard or movie score, and chances are 91-year-old Peter can not only hum it, but play it from memory on his keyboard. Once a week Peter and Veronica Fuchs takes requests on their daily Facebook Live show “Stump the Maestro.” While every now and then the former composer, conductor and Holocaust survivor is confounded by a request overall it is rare that someone truly stumps him.

In his quest to play what people want to hear you will occasionally find him stumbling through a stack of books beside the keyboard, furiously searching for the music while his wife continues talking to the audience they’ve grown over months of isolation. But almost without fail he will get there, in time, and give people the sonic break they need from the weight of the pandemic.

Learn more about Peter, Veronica, and their musical adventures at APNews.com.