Young Artists Take the Nightcap Stage
The Colorado Springs Conservatory returned to Nightcap this year, bringing another round of outstanding young talent to the stage. Last year, two wonderful young women wowed the crowd. This year, it was two fantastic young men who stepped into the spotlight.
David Laybourne, a senior at Cheyenne Mountain High School, kicked off the set with his college audition solo. Bursting with humor, personality, and plenty of sass, David’s performance quickly won over the Nightcap crowd.
Next up was Gabriel Levy, a senior at Air Academy High School and son of CFA Director Joye Levy. Keeping with the evening’s Music of the Knights theme, Gabriel performed The Beatles’ “A Day in the Life,” inspiring more than a few audience members to sing along.
The short program ended on a theatrical high note when David and Gabriel teamed up to show off their acting chops with “Agony” from Into the Woods. The challenging Sondheim duet gave both performers a chance to go big, and they did, earning plenty of laughter from the crowd along the way.
But the relationship between CFA and the Colorado Springs Conservatory reaches far beyond the Nightcap stage.Through a yearlong partnership, Conservatory CEO Nathan Halvorson is also helping prepare our Harrison School District partner schools for CFA’s November 9 Link Up Philharmonic Kids concert. Through the Carnegie Hall Link Up program, students learn the music ahead of the concert so that when they arrive at the Philharmonic, they aren’t simply audience members. They are ready to sing and play recorder with the orchestra.
That’s the kind of partnership we love to see.
CFA and the Colorado Springs Conservatory are two arts education nonprofits working in different lanes, but moving toward the same goal: giving young people meaningful opportunities to experience, create, and perform music. And together, we’re building something bigger.
