Piano in the pandemic: North Carolina man gives daily virtual piano performances to help get others through COVID-19 pandemic
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (WTVD) -- Easter Sunday marked one year since Dan Knight started playing the piano on Facebook every day.
"It started basically because people were hurting," Knight said. "Everybody was at home and we were in the first waves of the shutdown."
When the COVID-19 pandemic started, Knight, who works at UNC School of the Arts and Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, and his wife wanted to do something to help in some way.
"I said, 'Well you know what, I can maybe entertain people,'" Knight said. "'I can play.' So, so we started right away with the idea of maybe doing a song a day, and we had no idea how long this was going to last."
It's lasted, just like the pandemic.
Knight had plans to perform in Europe and the U.S. but the pandemic put that on hold. Still, he's been able to reach people around the world online. He said he's connected with people all over the world because of his virtual performances.
"I figured out early on that I wasn't performing to impress anybody or to show what I could do," Knight said. "I was just playing for folks to try to make them feel a little bit more at ease in their homes and a little bit less anxious about life and it helps me that way too, so it was a win-win situation."
Knight plays everything from classical music to rock and roll to blues to jazz.
His music has become therapy to many during these difficult times.
"Music goes through the direct center of us," Knight said. "It reaches into our hearts and unlocks something."
He plans to continue these performances on his Facebook page.
