By age 12, pianist James Wilson \u201923E had performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, and Carnegie Hall in New York City. He was a finalist in an international competition in Paris.<\/p>\n
But at 13, Wilson was playing at an unscheduled venue: Akron Children\u2019s Hospital in Akron, Ohio, where he was battling a rare cancer called Ewing sarcoma. Weeks of treatment left him with numbness in his fingers and weakness in his ankles, common side effects of chemotherapy. His music career\u2014and his life\u2014were in jeopardy.<\/p>\n
But through the piano came healing. A music therapist brought a keyboard to Wilson\u2019s hospital room so he could strengthen his fingers by playing. From his bed, the teenager performed everything from Mozart to Taylor Swift, entertaining other children and hospital staff.<\/p>\n
“It was like having our own Symphony Hall channel in the oncology department every day,\u201d says Laurie Schueler, a communications specialist at Akron Children\u2019s Hospital. \u201cIt was wonderful.\u201d<\/p>\n
The therapy helped Wilson recover the use of his fingers. The strength in his ankles eventually returned. And doctors performed surgery to remove the tumor. Now cancer free, Wilson is a piano performance major at the University of Rochester\u2019s<\/a> Eastman School of Music<\/a>. Since his illness, he has performed three more times at Carnegie Hall, and in Italy and the Netherlands.<\/p>\n But he says the hospital in Akron is the concert venue that has had the greatest impact on his life. It gave him hope\u2014and humility.<\/p>\n