Hello Oprah Show!
This is Matthew Dane Peavoy. I just turned 15 years old. I'm a classically trained accordionist and pianist from Central Alberta, Canada. I've been playing piano since I was 4 and accordion since I was 8.
Normally the words accordion and classical never meet in the same sentence, but I have put a unique twist on this largely traditional, yet absolutely magnificant instrument. I have come to love the classics, being much more complicated and appreciated by everyone that I play for. I have been found to get numerous standing ovations, while also being able to bring some audience members to tears with my interpretation and feeling of the piece. This is what sets me apart from other performers, as I literally feel the music and listen and enjoy it while I play.
The accordion is the only instrument that can represent a full 50 piece orchestra, and I have not found an instrument that I can't represent with this versatile instrument [piccilo, oboe, violin, basoon, organ, snare drum, egg shaker, etc]. The accordion, unlike instruments like the piano for example, can make notes start soft and grow into grand chords, like many wind instruments. I can also represent the violin's bowing by use of the bellows and I have discovered how to make the accordion laugh and cry.
The accordion is also one of the most difficult instruments to play, balancing bellow control, note accuracy, dynamics, touch, phrasing, which bass buttons to press [impossible to see], and all at the same time remembering to breathe [least important to me, yet very crutial!]
I have been through many competitions and great performances. I have competed numerous times in local festivals on piano and accordion. I have performed at the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, in August of 2007 with the Calgary Jarosh Accordion Ensemble. I have also competed in the American Accordion Association/American Teacher's Guild International Competition in Washington D.C, placing second in one category.
My greatest achievement to date is winning the Red Deer Festival of the Performing Arts' top award, out of 6,000 people, which was a performance opportunity to perform with the Red Deer Symphony Orchestra, which took place on December 8, 2008, with Maestro Claude Lapalme conducting. I played this piece, Czardas, with the full 50 piece orchestra backing me up, along with playing Ave Maria that evening. It has been the highlight of my musical career and an absolutely amazing experience!
I am currently also studying Grade 10 Royal Conservatory piano in addition to playing Trombone, Alto Sax, Euphonium, Trumpet, and numerous percussion instruments. I have also arranged several pieces for my Junior High Band, and composed several pieces on piano and accordion. I have also been referred to numerous times as a prodigy on accordion and piano, though I am not yet willing to place this title on myself.
I hope you enjoy these selections, "Czardas" and "Dark Eyes" as much as I do. Please listen to my other submissions. This opportunity would revolutionize the entire accordion world, as this style of playing is largely unknown.
Thank you!
Matthew Dane Peavoy
Nahshon O’Neil Hollis was born in Bermuda to parents O’Neil and Shawn Hollis on May 6th 1995. He is a 13 year-old self-taught imaginative oil painter that has a very fine talent and an eye for perfection and detail.
Nahshon attended Wee Learn Nursery which at the young age of two, first said he wanted to be a famous artist. Even in the earliest of his childhood could you see he had a God-given gift when compared to his peers. Most of his nursery years of work are in the hands of his nursery teacher that he would draw a picture for daily. At age six he attended Elliot Primary School. From here is when his talent became more evident to everyone around him. On career day, he dressed up in a painter’s shirt and a beret and boldly repeated that he wanted to be a famous artist. He got more involved and won many prizes for school related art competitions. He has won in three Junior Spring into the Arts awards and City Hall art competition awards, back to back Peoples Choice Awards and placed third in the Adult Quick Art competition for the Bank of Butterfield Art Festival, all in the age range of eight to ten. He was also a winner of the “One World, One People” competition for the Declaration of Human Rights for the United Nations. He has also been featured in events such as the Premiers Concert where he ‘wowed the crowed’, a beautiful and tranquil presentation of his pieces in the Spring into the Arts constructed by his music teacher, live painting for raising funds for “PRIDE” and also the RG and Bermuda Homes & Gardens 2008 Edition magazines. He has also made a great accomplishment at his current age of thirteen in showcasing his works in his very first art show at the newly revamped Masterworks Museum of Arts located in the beautiful Botanical Gardens.
Nahshon was inspired early in his life watching cartoon doodling when he was just in his pampers. He was greatly inspired by Bob Ross who he frequently watched any chance he could. From there, he branched onto his own mystical-style filled with more texture and a more classical look.
Nahshon has been selling his art since age nine and to date has sold about twenty pieces. Nahshon’s parents and sister Shanna give as much support as they can for their talented member of the family. He strives for perfection and detail in his art which can be lucidly shown in his latest pieces. He creates colorful, bright, serene and spiritual pieces which some viewers say can even be portrayed in his landscapes. Nahshon still plans to become the artist that he wants to be and hopes to help and inspire the world through his fine art.
You can visit Nahshon's website at:
http://www.nahshonsartworks.com
Name any country in the world and Arjun can play from memory the country's anthems on the piano. He learnt to play them by listening to them repeatedly.
He plays 6 musical intruments covering classical music - Indian (veena), Persian (santur and tombak) and Western (harp, organ, paino).
At age 6, he has appeared in "Animal Planet: Most extreme tough babies" for his extraordinary memory .
Hello Oprah,
I would like to present to you my son Stephan Rashad Burton who is unique in his own way. He's in the 11th grade now but in the 10th grade he asked his music teacher could he have a Scott Joblin piece to learn name Mable Leaf Rag. I was as many of my family members was blown away when we heard him play this piece. He has played this piece and won 1st place at the Jackson State University competiton, University of Memphis Beethoven competition, and selected as overall CAPA student of the year at his high school Overton. I would like to present to you this selection and hope you enjoy it as much as we did!
Hi Oprah,
My name is Anita Gormley and I'd like to present to you my amazingly talented son Sean Michael.
He is twelve years old and is very gifted in many different areas, among them math and music. What makes him so special is that he has these extraordinary gifts because he has Asperger's syndrome which gives him the ability to do math very easily. He can convert almost any number into binary form. He also won second place for his school in a regional math competition. He has perfect pitch and plays the piano beautifully. He especially loves to play classical and ragtime. Here is a piece he composed called "The Colors of Autumn".