Any tight-knit music community suffers when a valuable member departs for other pastures. In our case, Ithaca will mourn when musician Kathy Ziegler leaves next month.
Next month, the beloved singer-songwriter will say goodbye to Ithaca with family in tow, and begin a new life in the Netherlands. We’ll will miss this talented musician, who is known for her smart and sophisticated piano pop. “My husband, Jairo van Lunteren, is Dutch, and his family lives there,” Ziegler explains. “Every time we visited, we would fantasize about living there.”
Ziegler will go out with a bang when she performs at the Morgan Opera House in Aurora. Although Ziegler also shines in smaller, intimate venues like Felicia’s Atomic Lounge (Ziegler performed there with her pop trio, the Piano Creeps, just last Sunday), we’re excited to see her take the grander Opera House stage.
Ziegler’s departure will be a huge loss to Ithaca’s music community (not to mention her husband Jairo, frontman and songwriter for alt-rock band The Splendors), but she hopes to continue pursuing her music in Europe. “The music scene in Europe is nice — music fans seem to be real music listeners,” Ziegler says. “There are always nice audiences, and a respect for the arts that you don’t always see here.”
Over the years, the Rochester native has shared the stage with other members of Ithaca’s musical elite. This Saturday, Mary Lorson, Billy Coté, and AJ Strauss will join Ziegler as her backing band for her final concert.
“I thought it would be such a nice place to do a last show. They have a piano, and it’s a beautiful, architectural space. Much bigger than the venues I play around town,” Ziegler laughs. “I’ve never played there before, but I’ve heard that it has lovely acoustics.” The show will also be more formal structurally, with two 45-minutes sets and reserved seating.
We have faith that Ziegler will continue to stay connected to our local music community. This fall, the Piano Creeps will release a full-length record and tour in support of the album. “I do have plans to come back, and I want to stay involved with the Piano Creeps, [with] tours this fall, a show in Ithaca, the festival during the summertime,” Ziegler says. “I’ll get to visit with everybody. I want to stay connected.”
Ziegler — who recently gave birth to her second child, Nola Dahl, on April 13 — also has been working on other solo material. “[When I was pregnant] it was harder to get down to the studio, but when you have less time, you’re forced to be more efficient,” Ziegler says. “I have a record completely finished and mastered, but without a label.”
Zielger also told me that she has many other things in progess, including the possibility of a six-song EP collaboration with Lorson and Jennie Stearns.
It’s easy to feel Ziegler’s excitement about moving to the Netherlands, but it will be a melancholy transition nonetheless. “We were just talking about how it’s going to be sad [to leave]. In our yard, the tulips are blooming,” Ziegler sighs. “Our son loves playing outside, in the creek, in the woods. We’ll miss that. And we’ll miss our friends so much.” Ziegler encourages her fans and listeners to stay in touch, and we look forward to charting her progress abroad.
Kathy Ziegler will perform at the Morgan Opera House this Saturday, May 10. The show will begin at 8pm. The Morgan Opera House is located on the second floor of the Aurora Free Library, 330 Main St, Aurora.
