The audience watched with bated breath as pianist Mary Grace Gellekanao walked with measured steps towards the piano. She began playing “Let there be Praise,” her right stump playing the melody and her left fingers expertly playing the accompaniment and making the necessary improvisations.
It was a spellbounding performance, something you would expect from a classical pianist. But Mary Grace has an obvious disability, thought to be the result of amniotic band syndrome, a congenital malformation. She plays with her right elbow that gets painful and even bleeds after a series of concerts. Aside from that, her right foot is eight inches shorter than the left, a condition that necessitates a corrective platform shoe.
She played mostly spiritual pieces, some of which she had composed herself like “God’s Promise.” Another number, “From a Distance” was played almost effortlessly while “How Great Thou Art” proved specially moving. The Americans in the audience were amazed that she could play “Flight of the Bumblebee” which got her fingers and her stump flying all over the keyboard. Her grand finale “To God be the Glory” made us soar.
The 27-year-old pianist with an easy smile and sweet disposition exchanged pleasantries with us before she left for another concert in Sacramento that same evening. We found out she was born in Talisay City, Bacolod. She said growing up was difficult.
“I couldn't do much, not even simple things like buttoning my dress or taking off a candy wrapper. I felt so sorry for myself, especially when kids made fun of me.”
She was never invited to social gatherings. Her parents often asked her to go to her room when they had visitors to protect her from stares and nasty remarks. But her grandmother turned things around when she looked for somebody to give Mary Grace piano lessons from age six until she finished high school.
“My Grandma saw my interest when I was five years old and found a piano teacher for me. The first three piano teachers she approached didn't want to teach a one-handed student. But my Grandma told them to teach me in one hand and she'd pay for two.
Finally, the fourth teacher took me in. After I started my piano lessons, I found out that I could play with my stump. Playing the piano became the outlet to all my sadness.
Sometimes my back and my stump hurt when I play but I like to inspire people through my music. It has become my passion.”
Mary Grace showed so much promise that Sylvia Javallana, a well-known pianist in their province, brought her along to a European tour in the late 1990s, along with a cultural group. They performed in Germany and toured Switzerland, Italy and France for three weeks. Later she gave a concert in Canada and then in Korea as part of a missionary group. She stayed there for two years.
“Traveling got my mind off self-pity. I began to understand that everything happens for a reason.”
Mary Grace said that if she had not been disabled she would have taken things easy and not focus on developing any of her talents. She would not have engaged in a constant dialogue with God.
“I tell people there is no such thing as junk. God creates only the best although we may have disabilities or misfortunes. It’s up to us to develop what we have and rise above apparent limitations.”
She graduated from La Salle Bacolod with a degree in Psychology. In 2001, during a trip to the US, she met Reva Moore, a Filipina married to an American and has two biological sons. Reva later adopted Mary Grace. They currently live in Louisiana.
Six years ago, Reva Moore established the Adopt a Minister International with the support of Mary Grace. The proceeds of her concerts go to Filipino pastors who are unemployed by the local missions. There are around 500 unemployed Theology graduates in the Philippines. Now the ministry also supports ministers in other Asian countries.
Mary Grace performs practically every weekend all over the United States. She is open to performing for any church or organization. You can contact her at 225-664-8174 or you can email her at revawall@bellsouth.net
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