A welcoming digital space for connection

JONATHAN SINGLETARY'S INSTAGRAM LIVE SERIES IS ALL ABOUT 'PIANO & PRAYER'

- BY BUFFY GORRILLA

Photographs by AMANDA VILLAROSA For The Times

Jonathan Singletary is almost ready to go live on Instagram. He scans his short-sleeve button-up — it’s clean and different from the one he wore last time. He takes a few deep breaths. He throws up a quick thank-you to God, opens Instagram, hits the white circle and goes live at 5:30 p.m. People from across the country begin to tune in for improvised music in a welcoming spiritual space.

It’s time for “Piano & Prayer.” The late afternoon Los Angeles sunlight shines through gauzy curtains behind Singletary, who sits at his piano with fingers poised over the keys. The music starts. On Instagram, members of the “Piano & Prayer” community greet one another and share where they are listening from: Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Houston, New York City, Maine, Rhode Island, New Jersey and even Chile.

Singletary riffs with the confidence of a musician who began playing a toy piano at the age of 5 in his family home in Nashua, N.H. Now, a 38-year-old father of two, he starts vocalizing as he plays, sometimes forming words, but always in a soothing harmony.

During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, from his New York living room, Singletary started “Piano & Prayer,” a weekly spiritual, but not necessarily religious gathering, for people to connect and share. For him, it was the perfect antidote to the isolation he was feeling.

“Hello, hello, welcome to ‘Piano & Prayer.’ Happy Monday,” Singletary says. He stops playing and turns toward the camera with a warm, welcoming smile.

Singletary’s eyes light up. “Jaden, good to see you, my mom’s in here, so many familiar faces, Hannah, good to see you, Aunt Jeanette, good to see you. I missed y'all, I missed this.”

Singletary and his family had been on vacation for a couple of weeks, and he’s excited to be back. “Debra, good to see you.”