Festival Hall is not well known for promoting or presenting sports events. Still, the arts and sports will collide on Nov. 12 at Greensboro’s premier arts venue and cultural center. Braves’ organist Matthew Kaminski and Tony “Mr. College Football” Barnhart provide insights into their unique professional experiences within the sports arena.
“We are so grateful to have Matthew and Tony come to Festival Hall to ‘Talk Ball’ to support the arts,” Festival Hall Director Nicole Chillemi said. “This will be a fun event for anyone, especially those interested in football or baseball.”
If you have attended an Atlanta Braves home game, you have heard Kaminski's clever musical stylings. A versatile jazz musician, Kaminski is proficient on the piano, accordion, and Hammond B3 organ. He has been playing for the Braves since 2009 and has become a popular figure in the baseball world. He is known for entertaining the crowds with funny musical asides when a player from the opposing team is announced.
NBC Sports Online once declared Kaminski to be, “the coolest guy in the world.” In addition to playing for the Braves, Kaminski also entertains crowds for several college baseball teams and at Atlanta Gladiators (ECHL hockey) home games.
He has been featured in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, on Fox 5’s “Good Morning Atlanta” and “Good Day Extra,” NPR’s
“Weekend Edition,” and on the BBC. Kaminski also received positive “on-air reviews” from Braves announcers Don Sutton, Chip Carey, Joe Simpson, and Jim Powell.
Barnhart, meanwhile, earned his “Mr. College Football” recognition from a long, distinguished career as an analyst, reporter, and TV and radio personality with CBS Sports, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, ESPN, and the SEC Network. In 2021, he was inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame.
“Many of us in Greene County know Tony and always enjoy hearing from him, with his witty and very deep knowledge of the most popular local pastime, college football,” Chillemi said. “He is a hometown celebrity, and I am excited to have him back at Festival Hall.”
Longtime Greene County residents may know that Barnhart grew up in the county and still considers it home.
An author of six books, his latest, The 19 on Greene, highlights Barnhart’s experience with integration in small-town Georgia as a member of Greene County’s first integrated football team. Barnhart will have books for sale and will do a signing after the Festival Hall event.
Tickets to “Talk Ball” on Tuesday, Nov. 12, are on sale now at festivalhallga.com.