Proud moment for teacher who carries out promise to students
Although he wasn't there, Houston Tanevski and his classmates from Brennan high school made an appearance on stage at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.
Singer Andrea Bocelli's daughter Virginia held up a poster with the students’ picture on it.
“We thought it was amazing, that we were showed up in front of all these people,” said Tanevski.
Students in Maddelena Liburdi's therapeutic music class started the school year learning music one note at a time. They have since learned over 60 full length songs and performed three concerts.
For Valentine's Day a student suggested recording a cd and sending the music to celebrities.
“I'm thinking how am I going to do this,” Liburdi said. “You can easily Instagram and slide into people's DM’s but they get hundreds and thousands a day.”
Liburdi promised to do her best.
“Sure enough I found out that Andrea Bocelli was coming to town. I've been a big fan for many years,” she said.
She bought tickets and her class recorded a small compilation of Bocelli songs, “so we could show him how brave we are and how awesome we are,” Tanevski said.
The music and a letter were taped to the back of a poster that said ‘You inspire us Andrea Bocelli’.
“We also did it in braille. They signed it. This is a gift. You got to make it to the stage,” Liburdi said.
Security took the poster which eventually made it backstage. Liburdi saw Bocelli's 12-year daughter Virginia showing off the poster to others.
“Somehow it ended up working and it was great to see the kids reaction to this,” said Jacob Renaud, a Brennan grad who volunteers with the group once a week.
Liburdi describes the moment her pride beamed.
“Final song they went up to take the bow and we saw her go on stage proudly with the poster and of course everyone's taking pictures of this so of course I'm just a proud teacher at this moment.”
A great moment that now has the students looking to send their music to another music star.
“Ed Sheeran,” said Tanevski. A perfect choice.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'My family doctor just fired me': Ontario patients frustrated with de-rostering
Dozens of Ontarians are expressing frustration in the province’s health-care system after their family doctors either dropped them as patients or threatened to after they sought urgent care elsewhere.
An apartment block collapses in a Russian border city after heavy shelling, injuring over a dozen
An apartment block partially collapsed in the Russian border city of Belgorod on Sunday, leaving at least 19 injured. Officials blamed Ukrainian shelling and said there were also likely deaths.
Michael Cohen: A challenging star witness in Donald Trump's hush money trial
He once said he would take a bullet for Donald Trump. Now Michael Cohen is prosecutors' biggest piece of legal ammunition in the former president's hush money trial.
Canada Post cracks down on Nunavut loophole to get free Amazon Prime shipping
Amazon's paid subscription service provides free delivery for online shopping across Canada except for remote locations, the company said in an email. While customers in Iqaluit qualify for the offer, all other communities in Nunavut are excluded.
Swiss fans get ready to welcome Eurovision winner Nemo back home
Swiss Eurovision fans were getting ready Sunday to give a hero's welcome to singer Nemo, who won the 68th Eurovision Song Contest with "The Code," an operatic pop-rap ode to the singer’s journey toward embracing a nongender identity.
Adopted daughter in the Netherlands reunited with sister in Montreal and mother in Colombia, 40 years later
Two daughters and a mother were reunited online 40 years later thanks to a DNA kit and a Zoom connection despite living on three separate continents and speaking different languages.
'It was violent': Police tear down U of A pro-Palestinian encampment Saturday morning
Multiple people at the protest camp torn down at the University of Alberta campus Saturday say police's actions against protesters were "violent" and "disproportionate."
Millions of Canadians have been exposed to potentially toxic chemicals, and they're not going anywhere
For decades, North Bay, Ontario's water supply has harboured chemicals associated with liver and developmental issues, cancer and complications with pregnancy. It's far from the only city with that problem.
As Israel pushes deeper into Rafah, Hamas regroups elsewhere in ungoverned Gaza
Israeli forces were battling Palestinian militants across the Gaza Strip on Sunday, including in parts of the devastated north that the military said it had cleared months ago, where Hamas has exploited a security vacuum to regroup.