The first time 16-year-old Khalil Payne picked up a cello, he says he felt an instant connection.
“You could say it’s almost like another world. When I start playing, I actually feel the music,” he said. “Because it’s one thing to just play an instrument, and it’s another to make and feel music.”
Last year, as a freshman at Cobb County’s McEachern High School, the cello took Payne to one of the world’s most famous stages. With several classmates, he performed at New York’s Carnegie Hall, through the Honors Performance Series. Payne said getting the news that he’d been chosen for the trip was the happiest he’d ever been — and if he was happy, Nadine Payne was ecstatic.
“Lord, tears started streaming down my face. I couldn’t believe, I had to turn around and look. I said, ‘Oh my God, we’re really here,’” she says.
Congratulations Kahlil!
Read the full article about Kahlil Payne’s amazing journey on Fox 5 Atlanta.
