Minneapolis eight-year-old draws hundreds to front-yard piano recital
by Jay Gabler
July 12, 2014
There was no official count of the number of people who turned out to hear eight-year-old Dylan Spoering play a piano recital on his front porch at 25th and Bryant in Uptown Minneapolis today, but according to music insiders who gathered across the street in Mueller Park, he's already too big to play the Entry.
Spoering's plans to play a free show for the neighborhood went viral this week when neighbor Thomas Rehbein noticed a hand-made sign by Dylan and, with the blessing of the boy's parents, created a Facebook event to spread the word about Dylan's concert. Media attention followed, and despite a steady rain, somewhere in the neighborhood of two hundred people huddled under umbrellas in Dylan's front yard and across the street in the park, bearing signs with messages like DYLAN ROCKS.
Several local media organizations—including TV, print, and online reporters—turned out to cover the show, which was live-streamed by friend Travis Lee. You can watch the concert archived here.
After playing several short, charming pieces from his elementary music books, Dylan invited the crowd to the ice cream social being held in Mueller Park by the Lowry Hill East Neighborhood Association. During a Q&A at a self-declared intermission, Dylan asked how long the crowd thought he'd been practicing piano. When someone guessed high, the boy exclaimed, "I'm only eight years old!" He then came down into the crowd to share a plate of homemade cookies.