Outdoor pianos for the Vancouver summer: Emet S.W. with an old soul's rendition of Skyfall

Enjoy Emet S.W. playing for Stanley Park on one of four pianos that CityStudio has positioned around Vancouver for a limited time this summer.

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      (On mobile? Click here to watch the video on YouTube.)

      Emet S.W. told the Straight he’s spent his entire life surrounded by music. That isn’t an especially long time, considering the pianist is only 12 years old.

      “My mom plays piano, my dad plays violin, and my brother plays the flute,” he said. “And my mom always has music on in the house so I guess I just got into it.”

      Emet only started playing his own music four years ago, but in the short time, it’s safe to say he’s learned a thing or two.

      “I play piano, saxophone, guitar, and a bit of bass,” Emet said in an interview along the seawall in Stanley Park. “My mom wanted me to play at least one musical instrument, so I started playing piano. And then I started learning other instruments and it just caught on with me.”

      Emet is currently enrolled at Vancouver’s Sarah McLachlan School of Music, an after-school music program offered for youth at no cost. He's also a member of the Young Shakespeareans, a workshop for children and teenagers hosted by Bard on the Beach.

      His work with the latter will see him return to Stanley Park this Saturday and Sunday (August 24 and 25) to take part in Celebrate! Stanley Park, a music and arts extravaganza (and this week’s Georgia Straight cover story) the city is throwing in honour of the park’s 125 anniversary.

      “They asked Bard on the Beach to supply a couple of Young Shakespeareans for an act,” Emet recounted. “I’ll be doing a monologue—the dagger scene from Macbeth. It should be pretty fun because I’m really into Shakespeare.”

      Emet said that he plans to continue with theatre—he plans on joining an acting club as soon as he enters high school—but emphasized that he hopes to remain surrounded by music.

      “I want a career in music, whether it’s owning a music shop or being a performance artist,” he said. “I want music to always be a part of my life, even if it’s just a hobby.”

      The venue Emet plays in the video above is Stanley Park’s ticket booth. It’s one of four pianos that CityStudio has positioned around Vancouver for a limited time this summer.

      Find one before they disappear on August 24 (that’s tomorrow!) and play for the public.

      Emet S.W.’s performance is the fourth in a four-part series presented by the Georgia Straight. The fifth installment will be published on YouTube and at Straight.com on Friday, August 30, 2013.

      Part one: Rachel Iwaasa with Bach’s Goldberg Variations
      Part two: Joseph Hirabayashi with "an accusatory pop song"
      Part three: Dawn Pemberton with a love song for you
      Part five: The Carnival Band’s Ross Barrett jamming with the Carlo Rossi Gang

      Comments

      6 Comments

      Loving it

      Aug 23, 2013 at 1:29pm

      This kid is pretty special.

      b

      Aug 23, 2013 at 8:22pm

      Good fun!

      Jaier

      Aug 24, 2013 at 12:10am

      What an impressive young man. Well done Emet!!!

      Deb

      Aug 25, 2013 at 9:58am

      Way to go, Emet! Nice work :-)

      Won

      Aug 25, 2013 at 1:33pm

      But does he know how to play a recorder?