PIANIST

 

John began studying piano when he was ten years old, and gave annual recitals throughout high school and college until he chose the more collaborative craft of acting which has occupied him for more than four decades. His passion for the piano has continued throughout his acting career and John still plays almost every day.  During the winter of 1976, Towey and his wife Henrietta Valor found time to develop a nightclub act. Accompanied by John on the piano, they sang duets and solos at The Brothers and Sisters in midtown Manhattan and Lady Astor’s in the East Village.  Both venues are now defunct, but Towey takes no credit for their demise.

 

After leaving New York in 1990, Towey has been involved in a number of creative and acting projects. In 2000 along with the non profit organization Enrichment Works, he created Piano Masters, a program to introduce youngsters to music. Towey performed excerpts from composers ranging from Bach to Gershwin (plus histories and anecdotes about each one) hundreds of times at dozens of grade schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District. He also entertains residents of retirement homes around the Los Angeles area from Pasadena to Thousand Oaks with familiar classical piano pieces and standards from the American Song Book.