This article was in the Box Elder News Journal Wednesday June 19, 2013 about my friend and an amazing young woman, Maggie Nawyn. I had the opportunity to be a part of the video she made with Alex Boye and will be performing at the concert tomorrow night - June 22, 2013 at the Christensen Academy in Brigham City.
Set Fire to the Rain video
Calling in a favor
Singer Alex Boye is performing for a Christensen Academy of
Music and Dancing fundraiser because of the efforts of Maggie Nawyn, a
13-year-old classical pianist and founder of the Silver Slipper
Symphony.
Four years ago, at age nine, Maggie listened to her older sister
play the piano and “thought it sounded kind of cool” and that she
wanted to “make that kind of noise.” The talent came quite naturally to
her and she excelled quickly. Consequently, her mother decided it
would be a good idea to have their piano tuned.
The piano tuner heard Maggie play Phantom of the Opera, which
she had taught herself, and suggested that she try out for a program
taught by Gary Amano, a classical piano instructor at Utah State
University.
After she had played only a few bars of her audition piece,
Amano stopped her. Feeling dejected and knowing she had just “blown
it,” she prepared to leave when Amano congratulated her and welcomed her
into his program.
When Maggie was eleven, she went with her mother Lori Nawyn, an
author for Covenant Books, to Salt Lake City on a promotional book tour.
A true 11-year-old, Maggie quickly got bored, and Mary Nichols from
CBS News offered to walk her around the studio.
On their walk, they ran into Alex Boye. He and Maggie talked at
length about her interests and ambitions in music and dance. She had a
picture taken with him and, as they parted, he said, “If there is ever
anything I can ever do for you, let me know.”
Maggie wanted to be part of a symphonic orchestra and finding
there were no opportunities for her, she decided to form her own.
Largely by word of mouth and simply asking people if they wanted to
join, she founded The Silver Slipper Symphony which she named after the
Silver Slipper Ballroom. The 1930’s Bluebird Ballroom (where Maggie’s
great-great grandparents met) became the Silver Slipper Ballroom which
later became the Academy of Music and Dancing in downtown Brigham City.
Because there has been no venue specific for artistic
performances within the community, Maggie became actively involved in
fundraising for the Academy. She envisions the restored building as the
perfect place to showcase music and dance and enhance cultural
experiences for the community.
When the Silver Slipper Symphony was preparing for its first
concert, she realized they needed an MC. Maggie thought of Alex Boye
and his offer. He was contacted and agreed. Boye didn’t remember his
visit with eleven-year-old Maggie until she showed him the picture. She
said, “The next time you tell an eleven-year-old, ‘if there’s ever
anything I can ever do for you,’ you might want to rethink that
question.”
Maggie and Boye have become fast friends and he is very
supportive of her musical efforts. As part of her involvement with the
Academy, she wanted to make a music video and ran the idea by Boye. She
got an email from him on April 30 that told her to get ready . . . they
would shoot the video the next week.
Miracles do happen according to Maggie. She was able to pull a
choir together over a weekend to perform with the orchestra. Choir and
orchestra got the music two days in advance. The result is an
incredibly moving and reflective “Set Fire to the Rain” which can be
viewed on YouTube.
She hopes the video will raise awareness of the Academy. “The
Utah art’s industry doesn’t know about the Academy. Even the community
doesn’t know about this historical building.”
Maggie will continue to study at USU, while completing high
school. She doesn’t think she will need to go out of state to pursue
her musical training because many of her instructors are world-renowned
and have been educated in places like Julliard. She can get the benefit
of their experience without having to be so far from home.
Maggie says, “People look at me and think I’m crazy. But not
enough people are willing to do something different and follow their
dreams. I’m not special or different from other people, I was just
willing to take the step.”
Taking control of your destiny and creating a reality from your
dreams knows no age restrictions. A truth that is exemplified by
classical pianist and Silver Slipper Symphony founder Maggie Nawyn.
Why do we have such a difficult time allowing children to do what they have agreed to do? We second guess them and create in our mind scenarios of what if this happens or what if so and so says or does this. Because we don’t want them to get hurt or have a difficult situation arise; we make the decision to take matters into our own hands. That decision can come from pressure of family and close friends or our own mind being too creative with ‘what if’ scenarios and thinking of all the things that can go wrong.
