A university student saved a recent concert for 2,500 people in Sydney, Australia, thanks to his incredible sight-reading abilities.
La La Land composer Justin Hurwitz was forced to ask the audience for help after his pianist fell ill on Saturday, but little did he know one young man at the show in the Darling Harbour Theatre was up to the task, People reported Tuesday.
“Is there somebody in the audience who is an amazing sight reader? The keyboard. Anyone like an amazing sight reader?” he asked before gesturing to someone in the crowd whom he then asked if they could sight read.
That person was 21-year-old Sterling Nasa whose friend urged him to stand up. Video footage of the moment showed Nasa walking toward the stage as the audience clapped, eager for the show to go on.
A few moments later, a smiling Nasa took his place behind the instrument and the concert continued:
When speaking of the predicament, Hurwitz said he had a feeling that among the thousands of people in the crowd, there had to be someone who could sight-read.
“It was not a set up at all. I was panicking to be honest. As soon as he started playing, I was impressed,” he added:
Nasa, who was educated at The Scots College in Sydney’s Eastern suburbs, was able to improvise through an extremely difficult portion of the music and everything worked out fine.
When all was said and played, a humble Nasa recalled what a huge night it was for him and how fear was not an issue when he got onstage and took his place.
“To feel fear you have to think about it and I don’t really think there was any time to think about it,” he said, adding, he was “Just grateful to be of service to an amazing orchestra and an amazing conductor when, you know, sometimes life happens.”