VALERIE CAPERS: A Portrait
Katzenstein was introduced to the noted jazz pianist and Bronx native Valerie Capers in 1994, when he photographed her for her album, Come On Home. This exhibition is a visual documentation of her musical life from 1995 to a 2012 live session at The Knickerbocker, the Greenwich Village club where she often performs.
Capers was born in the Bronx, and after losing her sight at the age of six she received her early schooling at the New Institute for the Education of the Blind. She went on to earn both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in classical music from the Juilliard School of Music. When she graduated, her brother urged her to explore her roots. She took his advice, and discovered jazz. For two years she immersed herself in music, and went on to become the first sightless person to conduct at Carnegie Hall.