musician who survived cancer
13-year-old musician who survived cancer is
embraced by the media
New York City rolled out the red carpet for 12-year-old
musician Daniel Colaner for a Carnegie Hall debut that the Akron boy will never
forget.
The piano and organ prodigy and his parents, Dan and Marie, were
surprised by all the media attention Daniel started to receive the day after
Thanksgiving, when the Akron
Beacon Journal’s story about Daniel, a survivor of Stage 4
neuroblastoma who was preparing to play at Carnegie Hall in the Big Apple, was
picked up by the national press.
Daniel, who turned 13 on Dec 4, and has been in remission for
nearly 12 years, saw his story snowball by the time he got to New York. First,
a News Channel 5 Cleveland camera crew came to his organ lesson at St.
Sebastian Church in Akron to do a segment.
“I was kinda like, OK, what just happened here? I was kind of
confused (about) what was going on. But it was exciting, definitely,” Daniel,
who is home-schooled, said from home.
Also, ABC’s World
News Tonight contacted dad Dan, requesting to cover his
Carnegie Hall performance in New York and interview him before and after. That
same afternoon, ABC’s Good
Morning America did a Skype interview with Daniel in his Akron
living room.
All of this happened as Daniel was packing to travel and
practicing to play at one of the most famous performance venues in the world.
He won third place in his age division in the American Protege International
Piano and Strings Competition to earn his spot in the Carnegie Hall recital
Sunday.
When the Colaners arrived in New York, Daniel practiced his
Chopin Fantasie-Impromptu in a rented rehearsal studio and then the family had
dinner at their hotel. When the waiter saw them watching Daniel on Good Morning America on
their phone, he was so happy for the celebrity in his midst, he ordered the
family desserts on the house.
The next morning, World
News Tonight interviewed Daniel inside Weill Recital Hall
before the recital, shot his performance, and interviewed the family in the lobby
for their night broadcast. That story went viral on Facebook; it was viewed
nearly 750,000 times.
Daniel said the media attention before his Carnegie Hall
performance was both exhilarating and a little nerve-wracking. But he didn’t
show one trace of nerves on camera.
“He really amazed us taking it in stride,” Marie said of her
son, who was visiting New York for the first time.
“That was my best performance ever of that piece,” Daniel
reported. “I was just so focused on the music at that moment, everything else
was completely out of my mind.”
The pre-teen prodigy reveled in his recital experience:
“Everything was just amazing at Carnegie Hall. The piano was incredible. The
acoustic was beautiful.”
The media buzz continued. Someone on the street in front of
Carnegie Hall stopped Daniel and said, “I saw you on Good Morning America!”
Daniel also got to play the magnificent organ at St. Patrick’s
Cathedral, which he described as a “dream come true.” And things just kept
getting better: Daniel Brandel, one of the cathedral’s music directors, invited
the Akron boy to come back and play a concert there when he’s ready.
Dad Dan envisions that happening within a year, as Daniel
continues to build up his concert organ repertoire with one of his teachers,
David Higgs at Eastman School of Music.
The fun didn’t stop there. Daniel made a live appearance
on Good Morning Americaat
its Times Square Studios. The show rented him a piano to play his Chopin piece
and sent a limousine to pick Daniel and his parents up.
Host George Stephanopolous interviewed Daniel and his parents
live, and members of the audience asked for the boy’s photo afterward.
“I don’t know if I wanted to be a celebrity but it just kind of
happened,” Daniel said.
Now, the family is fielding calls from talk shows. But their
biggest priority is to focus on their life in Akron as well as Daniel’s health
and continued pursuit of musical excellence.
The Colaners, who are devout Catholics, are grateful that their
story of hope and faith has resonated with readers and viewers across the
country.
Their son’s surprisingly intense media coverage brought up many
emotions related to his early fight against cancer as well as the blessing that
music has been in his life.
“Every time he’s able to do something, that just reminds us of
how incredibly blessed we’ve been from the care that he got” at Akron
Children’s Hospital, Marie said. “The fact that he can even do what he does, in
spite of everything, it’s an overwhelming emotion.” – Akron Beacon
Journal/Tribune News Service
.
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