Sapulpa high school band sophomore Luis Nunez has been accepted into the Orchestra in flute for the 2022 Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute at Quartz Mountain State Park.
Institute will take place June 11-26 in Lone Wolf Lodge.
“Coming from these past two years of uncertainty it feels great to be accepted,” Luis said. “I am just thrilled, I have heard many great things about this wonderful music program, and I can’t wait to be a part of that.”
OSAI is a prestigious arts academy held each year. This two-week residential academy provides pre-professional training to artistically talented Oklahoma high school students in the disciplines of acting, chorus, creative writing, dance, drawing and painting, film and video, orchestra, and photography.
Every accepted student attends OSAI on a full scholarship provided by the Oklahoma State Department of Education and private donors.
He said he has to thank his private lessons teacher, Mrs. Jill Johnson, she’s always pushing him to do his best, even when he thinks it’s not possible, and she always does it with a smile.
“It’s no wonder that three of her students, including me, are going to be at the Music Camp this summer,” Luis said. “She is just a fabulous person and teacher.”
His mother, Maria Cancini, said “We are so proud of him, he is a hard worker and very focused to reach his goals. He needed a professional flute, but we couldn’t afford it so he worked the whole last summer, opened a bank account, and saved money for his flute.”
His flute teacher found a used flute in a good condition, she said, but Luis was short a $1,000, Jill completed the amount and Luis made a deal with her to pay her back $100 a month.
“He got his nice professional flute,” she said.
Luis is very thankful he received a scholarship for his private lessons. He said, thanks to the Bartlett Foundation he has a wonderful flute teacher, helping him to become successful.
He has been a part of the Tulsa Youth Symphony for two years, made NCDA all four years he auditioned, and this year he auditioned and made it into the All-State Symphonic band.
In the fall of 2020, he was selected to be a part of the “OSAI at Home Academy” and for eight weeks he studied with Susan Saylor from Chicago.
His goals for his music are impressive, “I just want to keep learning, I love playing alongside great musicians and there is always something you can learn from them. There is just something so special about gathering people from all through the state and joining together in music. My goal is to someday share all of my knowledge with the younger generation, so they too can enjoy making music, as I did.”
For more information on the summer institute visit oaiquartz.org
