12-Year-Old Trumpeter From Georgia Will Play In Virtual Inauguration Parade
12-Year-Old Trumpeter From Georgia Will Play In Virtual Inauguration Parade
For 100 straight days, Jason Zgonc played his trumpet outside Emory Decatur Hospital near Atlanta to cheer up exhausted health care workers, who were caring for COVID-19 patients.
NOEL KING, HOST:
Jason Zgonc, a seventh-grader in Georgia, got a lot of things done this summer.
(SOUNDBITE OF TRUMPET)
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
This blows my mind. For 100 days straight - 100 days in a row - Jason played trumpet outside the Emory Decatur Hospital near Atlanta. He was trying to cheer up exhausted health care workers caring for COVID patients.
(SOUNDBITE OF TRUMPET)
KING: Today, his audience will get bigger. He'll be part of President-elect Joe Biden's virtual inauguration parade. We asked him what song he's playing, and he would not tell us. But he's already filmed his bit of the ceremony.
JASON ZGONC: I was nervous because I thought I was going to, like, keep messing up, then my feet would turn into icicles.
INSKEEP: (Laughter) Despite the cold weather, Jason says he is proud to be part of this moment in history.
J ZGONC: It feels good to be known, like, as a good thing happening during this time and not a bad thing.
INSKEEP: Jason comes from a musical family. His dad Nathan is a trombonist for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and his mom Karen runs a music school.
KAREN ZGONC: An opportunity like this is something we could have never dreamed about. Like, it's not even on the bucket list (laughter) because it's so far out.
KING: There are some other things on his bucket list, though.
J ZGONC: I want to play live for the Braves game and also play in the symphony with my dad.
KING: For now, he's focused on the moment - the honor of a place in today's virtual inauguration parade by.
(SOUNDBITE OF JASON ZGONC'S "GOD BLESS AMERICA")
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