Macon Loves Its Little Carnegie
A world-hopping pianist brings concert-hall grandeur home
to Macon on an intimate scale.
By Evelyn M. Klopp

Louise Barfield (shown left) always felt drawn to the piano. As a child rocking in her mother's arms, the future concert pianist often heard neighbor Crockett Odom play. She would pretend to sleep so her mother would put her to bed; then she would sneak down stairs, slip out the front door, scurry across the lawn, and linger outside an open window, listening intently.

Decades later, melodies still tumble from the windows, but now Louise's hands produce the music. After a career of playing in grand concert halls all over the world, she's back home, still performing and living in her family's ancestral home. She bought the adjacent house and named it Little Carnegie of the South, where she and others perform, teach lessons, and exhibit paintings and sculpture.

Her Musical Roots
Louise grew up in a musical home. Her mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother all had degrees in music. "Music choose me," she says. "I've never had to decide on a career because anything else was inconceivable."

Louise studied classical music at The Julliard School and later played at Carnegie Hall in New York, the Castel Sant' Angelo in Rome, and other fabulous venues. She came home in 1997, and two tragic events soon redefined her future. A car crash left her with spinal injuries and partial paralysis in her right hand, and a fire gutted the cherished house next door. Devastated, Louise found peace by reconnecting the familiar property with the music she loved. She founded Little Carnegie of the South while going through physical rehabilitation.

Little Carnegie, Big Success
Giving her first performance since her accident, Louise officially opened Little Carnegie in 2002 to an audience proud to support a new cultural venue in Macon. A steady stream of concerts followed, featuring pianists, violinists, vocalist, and string and wind ensembles. They perform classical, jazz, blues, folk, and other styles.

Adrian Gnam, director of the Macon Symphony Orchestra, says the ambitious name suits Louise's lofty goals. "'Little Carnegie' may seem auspicious for what amounts to a palor, but what Louise does there is remarkable," Adrian says. "It has such a warm feeling, especially for chamber music that is supposed to be played in this kind of space."

Influencing Other Musicians
Louise oversees everything at Little Carnegie. She schedules performances, handles publicity, hangs artwork, and arranges the caterer for receptions after concerts. She also performs, typically with her eyes closed and her whole body moving flowing expressively as her hands explore the keys. Yet she still finds time to teach and be with her children, Clisby and Logan White, who are both in college.

"Her passion for the piano spreads to everyone," says Rachel Daugherty (shown left), one of Louise's promising students. Rachel and former student Brad Smith (now a piano major at University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music) were selected to perform last year with the Macon Symphony Orchestra, an honor that Adrian says reflects Louise's impeccable reputation as a musical mentor.

Showtime
On concert nights, Louise stays busy playing hostess and checking on everyone and everything. In the kitchen, caterer Bertha Wardrick puts final touches on serving plates. Guest artists relax in a comfy green room before going onstage.

This intimate setting echoes Louise's highly personal approach to sharing music. Her longtime friend Nancy Barnes believes the house nurtures a great fellowship between artists and audiences. "Usually the most fun is right after a concert," Nancy says. "Everyone's all excited, and we stay and talk and visit as long as we want to, because Louise is never in any hurry for us to go home."