Late last year, I decided to reach out to Martins to learn more about the road that took him to that clip. In chasing after that calling, no matter the cost, Martins has lived many lifetimes: some of them triumphant, some of them torrid. Seeing Martins at his piano is a jolting reminder of how it feels to have a calling-and how close we all are from having that taken away. It can become easy to forget why you love doing what you do in the first place. Even when they do, they can end up warped and demystified. Now ask yourself: To what excruciating lengths would you go to keep doing it, even if all the forces in the universe seemed to be conspiring against you, since before you were even born? Most passions don't pay the bills. Maybe it's painting or long-distance running or beekeeping. If you'll spare me a moment, I want you to think about your greatest passion. “As soon as I put my hands on the keyboard, if lightning strikes or there is a massive thunderstorm, I don't hear it.” “You see a lifetime of playing and loving and appreciating music.” “You can see it all in that video clip,” he tells me. My friend Adam Weiner, frontman of the band Low Cut Connie and the most acrobatic piano player I know, found himself deeply moved by it. It continued to spread throughout the year, gaining new resonance during a pandemic that disproportionately affected the elderly and left many of us ruminating on our mortality and our priorities. This video may have been catnip for the inspirational industrial complex ( 80-Year-Old Classical Pianist Plays Again Thanks to Bionic Gloves! #MotivationMonday!), but it was also genuinely affecting. That day with the gloves, I got even more emotional than I usually do, and a little tear fell from my eyes.” “As soon as I put my hands on the keyboard, if lightning strikes or there is a massive thunderstorm, I don't hear it,” Martins says. When he does, it's a full-body experience he leans in close to the keyboard, his face repeatedly crumples with emotion. These unusual gloves are what make it possible for him to play. A dignified older gentleman sits at a piano wearing a black cowl-neck sweater and a pair of black gloves that look like something out of Tron. Last year, a video began to make the rounds on the internet.
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