Down Syndrome AwarenessIn his own right, Jason Lyle Black, professionally known as “The Backwards Piano Man” ®, has had a successful career in the music business thus far. He is a music composer, performer, YouTuber, educator, and entrepreneur.

Jason recently wrote and produced a special music video to coincide with October being Down Syndrome Awareness month which features pianists Cambria (16), Joby (16), and Kiley (17) – three LDS teens with Down syndrome. The girls have garnered a great deal of attention on the internet with their awe-inspiring rendition of Disney’s “How Far I’ll Go” from Moana.

In a comment on his Facebook page, Jason commented, “This video is deeply important to me. In the musical Les Miserables, Jean Valjean says that “to love another person is to see the face of God.” Watching these girls shine, I see the face of God.” He says that he wanted to tell a story of people with special needs at the piano and demonstrate to others how incredible these girls are. He continued, “To Cami, Joby, and Kiley: thank you for your spirit, your laughs, and for the hop, you bring to the world. You are the embodiment of this video’s message—that each of us possesses a divine spirit, and that with that God-given heritage, there’s no telling how far we’ll go.”

Jason Lyle BlackThe video, “How Far I’ll Go—A Special Piano Trio for Down Syndrome Awareness,” has already garnered more than 150,000 views on Facebook alone.  A version of the video was released on Jason’s YouTube channel on 10 October 2017. According to LDS Daily, Jason arranged the music for the girls, making the music video the first in the history of YouTube to feature a piano trio comprised entirely of members with Down syndrome.

Jason Lyle Black’s album of original music, Piano Preludes, reached #1 on iTunes and #2 on the Billboard charts. His music is available on YouTube, Pandora, SoundCloud, and Spotify. To book Jason for a performance or speaking engagement, please visit his official website.

*This article has been translated into Portuguese and can be found on the Mormon Sud website by clicking on this link – Três Adolescentes SUD com Síndrome de Down Fazem Sucesso na Internet.

 

 

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