During a street performance, the cellist was unexpectedly attacked. But it was this case that helped the musician achieve his dream.
A few weeks ago, a 20-year-old musician Luis Felipe Salinas Almeida had an unpleasant incident: during a performance on the waterfront of Sao Paulo, someone threw an egg at him. Luis Felipe often plays outside in different parts of the country. He is self—taught, but he has devoted most of his life to music. Passers—by are the guy’s only audience, and the street is his stage. Usually people either don’t react at all to his playing, or support him with applause.
The musician faced such humiliation for the first time. Luis Felipe did not see who attacked him — the guy just heard the sound of a blow and found that raw protein was flowing down his instrument. According to the Brazilian, the egg could have been thrown from a building nearby. The eyewitnesses who gathered to listen to the guy were angry about what had happened. Passers-by stopped and were indignant, but Luis Felipe tried to hush it up.
“I was embarrassed, but I felt that I didn’t want any tears or curses. So I just kept playing,” Luis Felipe says.
But a friend of the musician decided that it was impossible to keep silent about what had happened. He posted a video on social networks in which he spoke about insulting Luis Felipe. The recording attracted everyone’s attention and through reposts the story reached the rector of the Metropolitan University of Santos — Renata Viegas. After listening to the musician’s playing, the head of the university decided to offer Luis Felipe a full scholarship to study at the university.
“I was very touched by this story, and I called the guy. I invited him to speak at the event. He gave a two-hour performance, and at the end I offered him a scholarship so that he could improve his knowledge, become a professional musician. It is our duty to heaven to give the first push. And I played my part in his life,” says Renata.
Luis Felipe grew up in a family of musicians and has been playing the cello since the age of seven. The guy already has two children aged one year and six months. According to the cellist, his son likes to listen to him play. Sometimes the baby even dances to classical music — just as he “danced” while in the womb of his mother.
The Brazilian has been living in Santos for three weeks. It was not easy for him to settle down in a new city — he even had to spend the night on the street with a friend. According to the musician, in order to buy everything necessary for his studies, he will need the help of philanthropists, but he did not refuse the opportunity. “I want to develop. Understand music, produce, create. My dreams have no boundaries,” says Luis Felipe.
