On Thursday January 26, Hathaway Brown Students organized the annual talent show. The performance began with the student senate’s synchronized swimming dance number, and the show was off to a great start! Performances varied from singing, Irish dance, piano, tricks, and some special teacher appearances. 

Maya Houghton is a 9th grader who performed Mozart’s 3rd stonato, Rondo Alla Turca, on the piano. She started playing piano the summer before 1st grade, after getting a used keyboard from her neighbors who moved out. Her mom had always heard her messing around on the piano, got her lessons, and she fell in love with it from there.

She loves learning new pieces and hasn’t really played the same piece twice. Her favorite piece was Chopin’s prelude in b minor. She thinks it is beautiful and loves the emotion it conveys.

 Her one piece of advice for people who are interested in learning the piano is to “Play for fun, play because you want to, don’t play to impress everyone with an advanced piece”. She shared that,  “It’s okay to not play the super hard pieces in the beginning” and that it’s important to “take it slow”. She also taught me that “It’s not just can you play the notes, it’s can you play the dynamics, can you play with the proper technique. It’s about slurring the right notes and playing the right notes staccato.” Her last piece of guidance is to “not compare your skills to others”, and “go at your own pace.”

Oma Agwa and Michelle Anabilla, Freshman Class co-presidents, shared their favorite parts of the morning. Oma says, “My favorite teacher act was definitely the band. I thought it was so much fun to watch and I think It was the highlight of the show for a lot of people.” She also shared that her favorite student act was the junior’s dance. She said she liked it because it was creative, and most of all fun. Oma finished the interview by saying, “If I had to choose between the HB swim team, and taking up synchronized swimming, I’d definitely have to stick with the swim team, as everyone could probably tell I’m not a very good synchronized swimmer.” Despite this, the senate performance was a fan favorite, and the dedication to the costumes was perfect. 

Michelle’s favorite teacher act was the band too, but she mostly enjoyed the comedic acts, and thought that the talent show really showed HB’s spirit. 

From singing, dancing, instrument playing, setting a new record for the most head bumps in a row, yoga ball choreography and more, it is an understatement to say that the HB halls are filled with talent!