A 21-year-old university student saved a performance of La La Land in Concert in Sydney on Saturday night after the orchestra's keyboardist suddenly fell ill. Sterling Nasa, who was in the audience at the ICC's Darling Harbour theatre, stepped onto the stage to play the complex score, including an improvised synth solo that earned him a resounding ovation.
How the Concert Nearly Derailed
The performance proceeded normally until the interval, which stretched to 40 minutes. Composer and conductor Justin Hurwitz then walked out alone to address the audience, explaining that the keyboardist had fallen ill and asking if any pianist in the house could sight-read. Behind the scenes, quiet panic had set in as musicians frantically phoned local contacts, but offers of backup players arriving in 15 to 20 minutes were too late.
A Gamble That Paid Off
Hurwitz described the moment as a gamble: "I figured nobody's as close as they say they are ... so I just thought, well, we have 2,500 people in here." He asked the audience several times if anyone was truly capable, and Nasa, initially hesitant, had his hand raised by a friend. "I do owe a lot of the experience to my friend, Scarlett, who sort of ... put my hand up for me," Nasa told ABC Radio.
The Ultimate Test: Improvising a Synth Solo
Nasa, a politics and international studies student at the University of Sydney who also plays piano, organ, and bagpipes, sat at an electric keyboard facing a score he had never rehearsed. The most daunting moment came during the John Legend piece Start a Fire, which features a technical synth solo designed to match Ryan Gosling's character's hand movements. Hurwitz admitted he was most nervous about this part: "The synth solo is really technical, and I thought, even a really high-level professional sight-reader would probably not be able to do it."
Nasa saw the challenge coming and decided to improvise: "I took a little bit of a creative liberty and just decided to improvise, which I think ended up being a good choice." His improvisation carried the orchestra through the number, earning a standing ovation from the 2,500-strong audience.
Aftermath and Reflection
Backstage, Hurwitz told Nasa he was "blown away" and thankful. By Monday, Nasa was being interviewed on breakfast television and radio, recounting his sudden taste of showbiz fame. He described it as "quite a blessing to get to play a work that I'm in such admiration of."
While the production team scrambles to rehearse new keyboardists for upcoming Melbourne and Brisbane shows, Nasa will return to his university lectures. Hurwitz noted that the young Sydneysider has the talent for a music career but said, "Maybe he likes international relations a little more than music. But that's what La La Land is about. You've got to do what you love the most."
La La Land in Concert continues at the ICC Sydney on Monday, the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre on Wednesday, and Hamer Hall in Melbourne from Friday 6 to 8 June.
