Hundreds of Miami Dolphins fans cheered his name as he walked onto the football field. Eighteen-year-old, Silvio Plata threw a nervous smile over his shoulder but kept walking. "Being nervous is perfectly normal for a musician before a performance. It's part of a performer's respect for his audience," said Plata during an NBC 6 interview days before at Frost School of Music. "I'm definitely a little bit nervous as I want to give them my best."
The Miami native says he is passionate about music, and it shows. Every day, as the new freshman arrives on campus and goes from class to class, he marvels over his life and the journey that brought him here. "I never imagined I would be walking on the Frost School of Music campus, my dream school, but here I am," he said as others guided his steps. "This is bigger than anything I've done before," he explained as he anticipated game day. "I've sung the national anthem at a Miami Marlins game, but this is a national event. I'm super excited because it's such a great opportunity to showcase myself as an artist, and I thank God and my family for how far I've been able to come despite my disability."
When Plata was only a baby, he lost his sight to cancer but soon found his passion in music. Today, he is a skilled pianist and singer, and he can also play the ukulele and drums. With the support of his family and many wonderful teachers and mentors at The Children's Trust, who's nurtured his musical talent since 2005, Plata showed the world on Sunday night that disability is no hindrance to success.
Through the help of Arc of South Florida, Miami Lighthouse for the Blind, and Doral Conservatory for the Arts—three special programs backed by The Children's Trust in Miami-Dade County, Plata has become an accomplished and renowned musician performing with some of the world's most beloved classical multi-instrumentalists, including Andrea Bocelli.
Looking back, Plata doesn't remember when exactly he fell in love with music but can't imagine his life without it. In his teenage years, he enjoyed listening to different artists from different genres, but Bocelli and Luciano Pavarotti, the Italian operatic tenor, influenced him the most. "Pavarotti is among the truly great opera stars of the 20th century. He can switch from one genre to another with such ease. He's not just an opera singer; I want to be like that," concluded Plata. "I want to develop into that type of artist someday.
Watch a recap of Silvio Plata's National Anthem performance HERE.
