Waukegan student violinists receive unique music opportunity

Posted December 01, 2019 10:00 pm

Submitted by Amy Sekili, Bravo Waukegan

Eight talented violinists from the Waukegan High School Orchestra had the unique opportunity of performing a song with The Piano Guys at their Nov. 22 concert at the Genesee Theatre.

The Piano Guys, composed of Jon Schmidt on piano and Steven Sharp Nelson on cello, have nearly 2 billion YouTube views and more than 2 billion audio streams. They've become well-known for their classical/pop mashups, like pairing Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake" with Shawn Mendes' "In My Blood" and Beethoven's "5th Symphony" with OneRepublic's "Secrets."

The Genesee Theatre reached out to Bravo Waukegan, a nonprofit organization that supports the music programs of the Waukegan Public Schools, in search of talented student musicians to perform with The Piano Guys at the concert.

"We were thrilled to assist in connecting The Piano Guys with the Waukegan High School Orchestra students," said Karey Walker, Bravo Waukegan executive director. "The Piano Guys are so committed to giving young musicians opportunities to perform on stage. The concert was a special opportunity, and you could see the excitement on the faces of the students who performed with them."

Walker reached out to Waukegan High School Orchestra Conductor Don Glassel, who selected Magdalena Albarran, Ashley Carrillo, Ariana Garcia, Laura Garzo, Marysol Lopez, Dakota Luff, Mario Martinez-Coreas and Perla Velazquez to perform the song "Beethoven's 5 Secrets" at the concert.

The students worked with Glassel to prepare for the concert and had a dress rehearsal with The Piano Guys prior to the show.

Commenting on the concert, Paloma Albarran, sister to violinist Magdalena, said, "I'm here to support my sister, who is excited to be playing on stage tonight. Bravo has done so much for me and Magdalena. I'm attending Lake Forest College, and music helped me get here."

To learn more about Bravo Waukegan, visit www.bravowaukegan.org.

To learn more about The Piano Guys, visit https://thepianoguys.com.

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