Petar Kodzas – an interlude of Brazilian guitar
Those who were there can tell you: the first few minutes of TEDxRochester did not go so well. We had a flawless rehearsal, which of course meant we’d have issues during the actual show. These started immediately when our projector started giving us a hard time and refused to accept the proper resolution for display. Twelve minutes of more or less random button pushing and precise cursing lead us to Lesson #1 for next year’s TEDxRochester:
Make sure we have a backup projector and that someone has a copy of the manuals for each.
As the only presenter who didn’t require a projector, we asked Petar if he would mind if we moved him up and he didn’t hesitate to jump from his seat to assist. It turned out we didn’t need to make the change as the magic button combination had been found and the TEDxRochester logo no longer looked like it was folded in half.
Personally, I’m glad we didn’t have Petar go first. As the day wore on, and other issues cropped up through the day, the staff and volunteers got more and more ragged. Petar’s guitar interlude was a welcome respite from the day’s events. He gives a wonderful and funny intro to his music and then proceeds to play. The notes washed over us and really eased us into the second half of the event as we were all simultaneously relaxed and invigorated by Petar’s playing.
His style is Brazilian, which he tells us is often confused for a variety of styles as it’s both influencer and influenced by many a style. Soft spoken and entertaining, he was a welcome addition to our lineup.
