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
Almira is 11 years old. She is a musician, singer, song writer, and teacher. Her main activities besides school are play soccer, teach guitar, and write music. She plays several instruments including acustic guitar, bass, harmonica, keyboard, and drum. When she performs, often she uses a loop station machine to allow her to add several instruments on her own to accompany her singing on the stage. In this video, she is playing her original song 'Chillax' with acustic guitar and harmonica.
Little Michael has had a passion for music, specifically drumming, since the age of 2. In this video clip, Michael is grooving to some improvisation he may have picked up through watching drummers on videos and in church.
§ Passion of Music 2008 - youngest Laureate in international Young Musician Competition, Lincoln Center, New York
§ Long Beach Mozart Festival, 3d place. Youngest Laureate 37 Annual Piano Competition, Long Beach, California
§ Theme “Wow” musical composition 1st place on first stage, National PTA reflection program, USA
§ Helen Brown Music Competition, Winner, Los Angeles, California
§ Moscow Meets Friends International Festival, special invitation to perform by Vladimir Spivakov’s Fond, Moscow, Russia
§ Telluride International Jazz Celebration, solo performance among outstanding jazz musicians like John Scofield, Bill Frisell, Steve Turre. Telluride, CO
www.myspace.com/jessevickrocks
Jesse and Jacob have been musically inspired from a very young age, and they are now at a point in their young musical career where they are prime and ready to share their incredible talent with the rest of the world.
Jesse is only 15 years old, and he is the Lead Guitarist and Lead Band Member of the Jesse Vick Band. Jesse is accompanied by his younger brother, Jacob, age 12, as Vocalist and Bassist. The Jesse Vick Band's unique line up of original music, coupled with such young and rarely seen talent and impressive rock covers is what sets the Jesse Vick Band apart from the pack. Their major music influences include George Lynch, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Jason Becker and Yngwie Malmsteen.
Jesse has always had an interest in music. He began playing guitar at the age of 9, and he has excelled in his guitar abilities beyond anyone's imagination considering Jesse has never been professionally coached. It was through Jesse's devotion and love of music that directly inspired his younger brother, Jacob, to also discover his inner talent as vocalist/bassist/rhythm guitarist.
The Jesse Vick Band is truly on the verge of a major breakthrough with their latest demo release of "Redemption", "Dreams", and "You Got to Let Go. The preview response of these three songs has been extremely positive, and it's just a matter of time before this killer demo gets into the hands of major festivals, guitar shows, and promoters.
Already Jesse has many accomplishments to his name. Guitar Player magazine, September 2007 issue, features Jesse in the Editor Boy's Big Eight highlighting "Meltdown," as "it portends Vick's impending guitar heroism."
14 year old Allison in the recording studio recording her version of Ave Maria. She released this recording in 2008 as a tribute to her grandmother who is battling cancer. The recording has been nominated for single of the year for 2008 in the Hawaii Music Awards. We are asking for everyone's prayers for her grandmother. To hear the completed version go to : myspace.com/allison808 or hawaiimusicawards.com .
Allison was recently chosen Hawaii's Super Kid of 2008. To see the story go :http://kgmb9.com/main/content/view/12497/104/ .
to see more of Allison check out her you tube channel at at youtube.com/allisonhawaii .
Allison loves to watch Oprah every night with her mom!!
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 .
With everything going on in their lives, the thin that has kept these girls going is music. KJ and I have been writing songs together for roughly a year, and began singing together roughly a day or two after meeting. The strangest part about our writing is that is just flows from them, sometimes without us even meaning to, and we stumble into songs because our voices are so sisterly. When they write, the harmonies just come along with the words.
Though the two of KJ and Ayanna do have other focuses, this has always been their dream. The girls have have spent a lot of time just imagining what it would be like to be able to preform for thousands of people and have them enjoy their music as much as their family and friends do now. Though they preform at open mics and other performances, their talents have yet to be seen by someone who knows how to break into this very competitive business. It's easy to see that these wonderful young ladies have a passion for music, but it is preforming that they really love the most.
KnA
P.S. We've been watching the videos of the other people who have posted on the site and just want to wish everyone a goodluck and say that from what we have seen, everyone is super talented!!!!
My daughter, Yaning, who just celebrated her sixth birthday, started learning Chinese harp when she was three and a half years old in Beijing China. She now plays the Chinese instrument, called Zheng in Chinese, under the guidance of Wang Changyuan, one of the most famous Chinese harp masters in the world. Yaning enjoys her music very much and plays publicly occasionally, such as at a show hosted by UNICEF and at a performance of Asian arts at Princeton University. She has entered an international Chinese harp contest, the finals of which will take place in Hong Kong early next May. I'm happy that she loves music.
Flowers and Chocolate is the title for this song written by sisters, Lianna 16 and Rachel 12. You can view more of their originals at youtube.com/liannaanduha and myspace.com/liannaanduha. Lianna has been writing songs and singing since she was 9. She also plays guitar and piano. Rachel has also been bit by the musical bug. Their dream is to one day share music with people everywhere. We hope that they are given an opportunity.
Mayumi is 13 years old and has been singing since she was 5. She is always invited to sing solo for Christmas midnight mass or service . This particular song was the song that she sang for the candle light service which made a lot of people cry.
Mayumi also sings Broadway musical songs e.g. "Les Miserables", "Miss Saigon", "South Pacific", "Sound of Music", "Wizard of Oz", "Annie" and "Secret Garden". Mayumi is an accomplished violinist , pianist and is currently a member of the prestigious Hawaii Youth Symphony. When people hear her voice they always assume that she is taking voice lessons but the truth is she has never taken any voice lessons. She is a regular singer of the national anthem and Hawaii Ponoi at Stan Sheriff Center for the University of Hawaii Atheltic Department. She has been invited to sing in numerous community events both in California and Honolulu. She also dances hula.
Despite all her accomplishments, she remains humble.
At the age of 13, Malia Civetz was honored to be selected to perform at the legendary Apollo Theater in New York as a featured 'Star of Tomorrow'. She sings, dances, plays piano and is a straight 'A' freshman honor student majoring in theatre at the Las Vegas Academy of the Performing Arts. Along with her drive for academic excellence and her passion for music, she focuses on lending her time and talent throughout the year to numerous charities. She is a three-time winner of the Las Vegas Search for Talent and has amazed crowds with her soulful & powerful voice since she began singing in church when she was 5. For more about Malia please visit her website created by her brother, www.MaliaSings.com.
Kelsey Williamson is an aspiring singer who hopes to make it big one day.
12 years old , a 7th grader and honor roll student. she is also a cheerleader at her middle school.
Kelsey has participated in many local and national talent contests.
Her most memorable moment on stage was singing a duet in concert with Billy Ray Cyrus Nov 2007.
Kelsey would love for you to visit her music sites and please leave comments if you like
www.myspace.com/kelseylynnmusic www.youtube.com/kelseywilliamson
thanks for this opportunity
She learned this piece (Theme from "Witches' Dance" by Paganini) when she was 4 years old. Now she is in Suzuki book #3. She is a vehement reader and loves to paint, dance and act.
Noelle is a 12 year old who loves to sing, act,dance, draw and play the piano. She has been active in the theater where she has just recently played the lead role in "Cinderella" at the Alliance for the Arts and is part of the "Showstoppers" Broadway revue at the Cultural Park Theater set to open this Jan. 16, 2009. This video clip was taken during one of her winning performances during a competition in November of last year.
This is my 15 year old son Anthony, he has been singing ever since I can remember. He is a sophmore honor student with dreams of becoming a professional singer. He sings in his high school choir and also performs with the drama department. He loves to perform for crowds of peolpe he always says the bigger the crowd the better. He also hopes to study choral music and musical theatre at a University after graduating high school. I hope you enjoy his voice as much as I do.
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!