SYDNEY — Sterling Nasa, a 21-year-old University of Sydney student, stepped in as an emergency pianist during a live performance of La La Land in Concert at the ICC’s Darling Harbour theatre in Sydney on Saturday night after the show’s keyboardist fell ill. Composer and conductor Justin Hurwitz addressed the audience following a 40-minute interval and asked if anyone in the crowd possessed exceptional sight-reading skills.
Nasa, who studies politics and international relations, was in the audience when Hurwitz made the request. Though initially hesitant, he volunteered after encouragement from a friend. “I was a little bit tentative. I do owe a lot of the experience to my friend, Scarlett, who sort of put my hand up for me. But I did end up finding the confidence and it was a very good decision to go down and volunteer myself.”
Nasa, who plays piano and organ and serves as bagpipes tutor at Scots College, performed on an electric keyboard, sight-reading a complex score he had never rehearsed. During the song “Start a Fire,” he opted to improvise a synthesizer solo when he felt uncertain about sight-reading the passage. “I took a little bit of a creative liberty and just decided to improvise, which I think ended up being a good choice.”
Hurwitz praised Nasa’s spontaneous musicianship. “He saw it coming up and he just improvised. That is a whole other skill on top of sight-reading. To be able to play a really cool solo in the right key, in the right scale, on the fly with no rehearsal – it was remarkable.”
Nasa received a resounding ovation from the audience after his performance. By Monday morning, he was giving interviews to breakfast television and radio studios. Hurwitz expressed deep gratitude for Nasa’s contribution. “I just told him how blown away I was, and obviously how thankful I was. All of our heads were spinning a little bit because it was such a surreal moment.” He added, “I don’t know what he’s most passionate about. Maybe he likes international relations a little more than music. But that’s what La La Land is about. You’ve got to do what you love the most.”