Earlier this month, four Oglethorpe music students performed at the Taiwan Consulate‘s celebration of the 113th National Day of the Republic of China (Taiwan), held at the Georgia Aquarium. Following a Taiwanese singer, they delivered a moving rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner before an audience of over 200 distinguished guests, including Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and international representatives.

Students Adarys Encarnacion ’26, Isabella Reid-Broadie ’28, Nehemiah Wiggins ’25, and Carter Daniels ’25 showcased their talents at the prestigious event.

Oglethorpe’s proximity to Atlanta continually provides students with unique opportunities, from professional development to high-profile performances like this one. Many music students have taken the stage locally in Atlanta and beyond, and this recent performance is just as remarkable, allowing students a unique opportunity to gain valuable experience as performers.

Dr. Tom FitzStephens, Visiting Assistant Professor of Music, arranged the students’ participation after being contacted by a representative from the Taiwanese Consulate.

“I think it is important for our music students to get out there and perform as much as possible,” says Dr. FitzStephens.

“The more one performs, the less nervous one becomes, the better one performs. One of the joys of music performing is that it can take performers all over the world and give them incredible, diverse, and unique experiences. One month you might perform in a European cathedral and the next month you might perform for a music video with a rapper.”

Encarnacion, a biopsychology major, was thrilled to take the stage, though she admitted to having a “healthy amount of stress” with only four singers performing instead of a full choir. 

“While I had the melody of the song, I also had to keep in mind that because I had the melody, if I messed up it would be more obvious. I had to make sure my sound was resonant to avoid sounding squeaky in high notes, but loud enough to carry across a room full of people,” says Encarnacion. 

Though music is her minor, the experience left Encarnacion excited about her future as a performer.  

“It inspired me to continue pursuing amazing opportunities like this performance as well as hone my vocal performance skills to continue to grow as a singer. Atlanta is full of opportunities for musicians, and I want to take advantage of that as much as possible.”

Watch the recording of their performance here.