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DSA Students Perform at DPAC with The Piano Guys
Eight Durham School of the Arts Orchestra violin students were selected to perform with The Piano Guys at their sold out DPAC event on Tuesday, Dec. 6.
The students joined the group on stage to perform “Beethoven’s Five Secrets."
After receiving a call from DPAC, DSA Orchestra Director Jody Crafford held auditions to find the eight students. Because this was not a school performance, the students would have to meet before school hours to rehearse the piece.
The students selected were Lauren Burris, Sha’re Strachan, Audrey Tannaus-Taylor, Gabe Mixon, Kate O’Laughlin, Daniel Heintzelman, Nicole Dunkak, David Larson and alternates Kayla Harward and Lauren Green.
When the students arrived at the DPAC for the sound check, they were greeted by The Piano Guys tour manager Frank Nelson who quickly put the students at ease. After a quick one-and-done run through of the music, the students and one guest got to watch the show from the audience until they got their cue to get ready.
Seeing the sold-out crowd of more than 2,700 people made them realize they hit the big time and that’s when they got nervous. Nelson was there once again to settle their nerves and told them to remember that they could inspire some young child in the audience to become a musician.
Their performance was excellent! As they returned to their seats, audience members all around them congratulated them on their performance.
And it turns out that these eight students were not the only DSA connection to The Piano Guys performance: one of the bagpipers that came on stage at the end of the show was DSA art teacher Darrell Thompson.
“The entire experience was an amazing opportunity for our students,” said Crafford. “It is something they will always remember and they handled everything professionally and gracefully.”