Sunday Lecture

JANUARY 12, 2025 • 11:30 am – 12:30 PM


A Musical Fete, with Stories, Croissants & Mimosas

Join Michael Harold and Quinn Peeper, authors of Classical Shindig, as they delight us with four-handed piano duets and entertaining tips from their restored Garden District New Orleans home


Quinn Peeper and Michael Harold

Make the acquaintance of two of New Orleans’ most beloved hosts and concert pianists, Michael and Quinn, who sure do know their shindigs. From seasonal celebrations to iconic book clubs to lavish parties for friends, family, and charities (both local and national), Michael and Quinn have seen, done, and decorated it all. Enjoy the pair's authentic sense of style and design in their lush home and garden while exploring the joys of throwing unique and personal events.

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Quinn Peeper and Michael Harold

On Saturday November 17, 2018, authors Michael Harold and Quinn Peeper performed piano concertos with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra in New Orleans. The concert changed their lives. The idea began as a small pipe dream and over time turned into a massive fundraising gala. To celebrate the centennial of The English-Speaking Union, a non-profit of which Quinn is chairman, the two coined the gala “Rach and Bach” and played Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto, No. 2 (Quinn) and Bach Piano Concerto, No. 5 (Michael). While preparing for the concert gala, Michael and Quinn invited friends from all over the country and globe. The two hosted a farewell brunch at their home in New Orleans which was photographed and published in a local magazine, Adore. The event prompted them to photograph more events and eventually lead to the publishing of their book, Classical Shindig in 2023.


Michael Harold

Michael Harold, a lawyer and native of New Orleans, is the owner of YSR Search LLC specializing in the placement of lawyers throughout the Gulf South. He earned a degree in Spanish from the University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee, and a J.D. from Louisiana State University law school. After a junior year abroad in Valencia, Spain, Michael began studying French and continues taking classes. He began studying the piano at the age of eight and in 1979 played a Haydn piano concerto with a local community orchestra in New Orleans. He is an avid reader and since 1994 has enjoyed membership in a beloved monthly bookclub which satiates his love of serving food to friends, discussing novels, and entertaining at home. He serves on the boards of numerous organizations focusing on Spanish and French culture/education as well as classical music. Michael has contributed articles for local and national magazines including Local Palate published in Charleston, SC. He continues to study languages and piano music with local and national professors. Michael and Quinn performed a number of outdoor, social-distanced concerts in 2020 and 2021 called “Mo and Cho” (Mozart and Chopin), Michael played Mozart Piano Concerto No. 12 with a local quartet. 

Quinn Peeper

Born in Osceola, Arkansas and reared there and in Memphis, Tennessee, Quinn Peeper practices obstetrics and gynecology at Touro Infirmary, New Orleans where he also researches postpartum depression. He graduated valedictorian of The Auburndale School. After finishing Washington and Lee University (BS), he attended University College, Oxford (BA, MA), and then entered Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons (MD). In 2015, Dr. Peeper graduated the Raymond J. Harbert College of Business, Auburn University. (MBA) During high school Quinn studied piano at Southwestern at Memphis (now Rhodes College) under Dr. Charles Mosby. During residency training in New York, he studied with David Bradshaw and won a competition at the Instituto Musicale Nicola Vaccai in Italy. His Carnegie Hall debut (Weill Recital Hall) was in 1997. In 2004 and 2022, he played Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO). Since living in New Orleans he has studied piano with Dan Weilbaecher and Faina Lushtak at Tulane University, visiting professor Frank Heneghan, Steven Mann at the Manhattan School of Music, and Dilyara Shiderova at Loyola. Quinn played Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in New Orleans with the Electric Y’at Quartet. He is Chairman of The English-Speaking Union, US and a trustee of the National Trust of Scotland, US, the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Pirate’s Alley William Faulkner Society. Quinn is also His Britannic Majesty’s Honorary Consul to New Orleans.


Event ticket purchase required (includes Show admission).

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