Watch This Legally Blind Musician See the Notes He's Playing for the First Time
Nicholas is a 17-year-old aspiring professional musician with visual impairment.
Despite being legally blind, he is quite an accomplished cellist for his age — he has been invited to play at Carnegie Hall and also plays for the Gwinnett County Youth Symphony in Georgia and the Chamber Orchestra at his high school, according to his GoFundMe Page. He often has to memorize entire songs in order to play them because he can’t see the notes.
However, despite his accomplishments, Nick’s vision still stands in the way of him becoming a professional musician — he has to be able to sight-read music to audition. In order to enable her brother to accomplish his dreams, Nick’s sister Lakisha started a GoFundMe page to help get Nick a pair of eSight digital glasses for the blind. Then, the people at Kleenex stepped in to help raise the rest of the money.
“I don’t think there is a better feeling,” Nick says in the video below after wearing the glasses for the first time. “I know that cello is something I’m going to want to do for the rest of my life.”
Watch the touching video below to see Nick play for the first time with his eSight glasses:
Melissa McGlensey is the former News Editor at The Mighty. Her writing can also be seen in Ms. Magazine, on the Ms.Magazine blog and in The Huffington Post’s Good News, Comedy and Impact sections. Melissa is also a New York City comedian who does sketch, improv and stand up. She is passionate about social justice, politics, Thai food, literature, disability rights and more. She is currently in a long-distance relationship with her cat, Sneakers, who lives in California. You can follow her on twitter at @OhHeyMeliss.
melissa-mcglensey