Jeff Lockhart has been the KPC Executive Director for the past two years, and has already made a name for himself in the Kirkland community. He has helped shape KPC into the theater venue it is today and we wanted you, our patrons to get to know him a little bit better. We asked Jeff to write a blog post about himself, his love for music, and his work here at KPC. Below is what he wrote.
The first time I heard the Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album by The Beatles I was 10 years old. The second to the last song on the album, called “Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club band (reprise) starts out with eight bars of a basic rock 4/4 drum beat pattern. It only lasts 20 seconds long – but it impacted me in way that changed the direction of my life forever. My experience of those eight bars and 20 seconds started me down a path of musical exploration, playing the drums, a musical endeavor that has shaped my career direction and my approach to business throughout my entire life.
Rock and roll gave me a vision and a cause. It gave me a voice and a safe place to say dangerous things. Most importantly it gave me and my community a means to experience life and contribute positively to our own world. To me music and the arts are magic with the possibility to motivate and inspire people to create and experience the best life has to offer. As a performing artist, I am the co-founder, manager, and drummer for Creme Tangerine. Creme Tangerine started 13 years ago and is a five piece band from Seattle that performs the music of The Beatles live for thousands each year across the Pacific Northwest. It is very exciting to see firsthand how the Beatles continue to appeal to those already familiar with and new to that great music.
I am extremely fortunate to make a living in the business, education, and performance of music and the arts. It was a tremendous honor to be invited by the Kirkland Performance Center (KPC) located in my hometown of Kirkland, WA to be Executive Director in 2014. As KPC’s leader it is my vison to inspire the people who experience our organization to be moved in their own way by this same magic. It is my sincere belief that the magic in music and the arts is an integral part of allowing a community and its people to allow the arts to enhance their own life experience by what they personally draw from involvement by participation in music and the arts for themselves.
The passion, collaboration, and grit it takes to be good at rock and roll are the same principals it takes to lead and succeed in business. I have learned through each of these musical experiences that everything I needed to know about life and business I learned by being in a rock and roll band. – Jeff Lockhart