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Bucktown Resident, Piano Teacher, Plays Holiday Classics in Library Lobby

By Alisa Hauser | December 18, 2014 1:57pm
 Otto D'Olivo, a piano teacher, played an evening gig Wednesday inside the Bucktown-Wicker Park library.
Otto D'Olivo at the Bucktown Wicker Park Library
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WICKER PARK — Otto D'Olivo has taught piano lessons out of his Bucktown home for the past five decades but Wednesday evening marked the 73-year-old musician's first gig in one of his favorite places: the library.

D'Olvo's performance was arranged by Lisa Roe, a librarian at the Chicago Public Library's Bucktown-Wicker Park branch, 1701 N. Milwaukee Ave.

"I thought it would be fun and was inspired by Mariano's" which has a piano player, explained Roe, who said she used money from "a small programming budget" to book D'Olivo, a regular library patron and lifelong Bucktown resident, for a one-night only performance from 5:30-7 p.m. Wednesday.

Sitting at an electronic keyboard in the lobby, next to a Christmas tree, D'Olivo played holiday classic songs like "Jingle Bells" and "Joy to the World," to the delight of patrons who stopped to watch him in the otherwise quiet library.

Susan D'Olivo, Otto D'Olivo's wife of 46 years, was elsewhere in the library during the performance but came by near the end.

Otto D'Olivo, who has a master's degree in music from DePaul University, where he was trained as classical clarinetist, gives piano lessons to adult and children out of his home. But interest in piano lessons has been declining, said Susan D'Olivo, who plays violin and viola.

"Children today are into so many things that they are not into anything seriously at all.  He does not want students that are not really into it, not dedicated," Susan D'Olivo said.

Roe, who was decked out in a festive holiday outfit for the occasion, said she is exploring the idea of bringing D'Olivo back for an encore. 

"Everyone really enjoyed it. I'm thinking of other holidays we have coming up, how he can come back and play again," Roe said.

For more information on piano lessons at D'Olivo Studios, call 773-384-0469.

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