You can learn a lot about Randall Atcheson by the names of his two dogs, Amazing Grace and Steinway — he loves the Lord and he loves the piano.
But it might take an actual conversation to deduce the hometown of the premier pianist and Greenwich, Conn., resident. It just so happens to be Clanton.
Though Atcheson’s Southern accent has softened a bit more than he’d like to admit, he is proud of what’s left of it and still very much loves the Heart of Dixie. He tries to get back whenever he can.
“I love Alabama,” Atcheson said. And Alabama would be wise to love this particular native son back as much as it can and to brag on him a bit.
After leaving Birmingham’s Samford University in 1970 for New York after only his freshman year, he became the only student in the history of the famed Juilliard School allowed to receive or even pursue simultaneous degrees in piano and organ performance.
“I almost didn’t go to Juilliard,” said Atcheson, who was a drum major at Chilton County High School in Clanton. “I couldn’t imagine going to school without a football team and a band.”
But go he did, and he returns often. Currently Atcheson is prepping for his ninth performance at Carnegie Hall in New York. Steinway & Sons will also manage to get one of its pianos in front of him, free of charge, wherever he is in the world — and he’s played on five continents.
Widespread acclaim
Atcheson’s near legendary abilities have achieved widespread acclaim, and he counts dignitaries and celebrities as fans and friends. He recently played for a private Christmas party hosted by old friend and fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger, who sat him down for 20 minutes with presidential hopeful Barack Obama in the kitchen.
“I gave him my patriotic CD,” Atcheson said, speaking of Obama. “Just as a little present.”
He has played for Mitt Romney and Hillary Clinton and at an inauguration party for President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. Atcheson is a regular at the U.S. Embassy in Paris and, in addition to Hilfiger, rubs elbows and makes himself at home with Frank and Kathie Lee Gifford, Diana Ross and Ron Howard, all pals.
His older brother Wayne Atcheson, director of the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte, N.C., said he thinks it’s “amazing that God took this small-town boy from Alabama and gave him a ministry in an affluent community with so many well-known and highly successful people. He has had a fascinating and exciting life.”
Atcheson’s Baptist connections don’t end with his brother. Their father, Hymon Atcheson — a tent revivalist, street preacher and local radio evangelist — led a life of Baptist ministry, serving as pastor of 17 Baptist churches in and around Chilton County before passing away in 2001.
In addition to Atcheson’s performance and teaching schedules (85 students a week), he serves as the organist and choir director for Stanwich Congregational Church in Greenwich.
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