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
Air turbulence: When can it become dangerous?
Flight turbulence like that encountered by a Singapore Airlines flight on Tuesday is extremely common, but there's one aspect of severe turbulence an aviation expert says can lead to serious injury.
B.C. serial killer Robert Pickton hospitalized after prison attack
British Columbia serial killer Robert Pickton was attacked and sustained life-threatening injuries in a Quebec prison Sunday in what officials described as a 'major assault.'
'Mr. Trump doesn't worry us', says Canadian ambassador
As Prime Minister Justin Trudeau continues the 'Team Canada' charm offensive to U.S. lawmakers and business leaders, Canada's ambassador to the United States downplayed the effect of another Trump presidency on Canada.
WATCH Why today's inflation numbers are good if you have a mortgage
New inflation data is 'welcome news' for consumers and an economist says it could signal the possibility for a interest rate cut as several core measures also continue to ease.
'Miscommunication' Liberals say of Speaker Fergus event invite Conservatives call partisan
House of Commons Speaker Greg Fergus is facing fresh Conservative-led calls to resign, this time over "very partisan" and 'inflammatory' language used – the Liberals say mistakenly – to promote an upcoming event.
Toronto Blue Jays fan struck by 110 m.p.h foul ball offered tickets, signed baseball by team
The Toronto Blue Jays have offered tickets and a signed baseball to a fan who says she was struck in the face by a 110 m.p.h (177 km/h) foul ball at Friday’s game.
OPP continues to investigate boat collision north of Kingston, Ont. that left 3 people dead
Ontario Provincial Police continue to investigate a long weekend fatal boat collision on Bobs Lake, north of Kingston, Ont.
opinion Tom Mulcair: With Trudeau spiralling, Mark Carney waits in the wings
In his latest column for CTVNews.ca, former NDP leader Tom Mulcair argues that if there's an unofficial frontrunner in the eventual race to replace Justin Trudeau as Liberal leader, it has to be former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney.
Loblaw boycott organizers say they plan to keep movement going past May
The organizers of a month-long boycott of Loblaw-owned stores say they've decided to extend the boycott past May.