It’s the stuff of dreams… and maybe for others, nightmares. You sit in a crowded theater audience. Suddenly, a voice asks for a volunteer over the microphone to step onstage and replace their ailing keyboardist. After all, the show must go on. Does this make you break out into a cold sweat? Or would you be brave enough to play your heart out? For 21-year-old student and musician Sterling Nasa, that daydream fantasy became a reality during a live concert performance in Sydney, Australia. Everything was going great during the first half of a La La Land in Concert presentation at ICC’s Darling Harbour theatre. Twenty-five hundred movie and music fans were gathered to watch the film on screen as a live orchestra played the score underneath. At intermission is when things got out of sync. The keyboardist suddenly fell ill and could not continue with the performance. A panic broke out backstage as musicians frantically messaged nearby friends and colleagues, looking for anyone with the required advanced skills who could step in quickly. Meanwhile, what was meant to be a ten-minute intermission stretched out to an increasingly anxious 40-minute delay. Raise your jazz hands With no backup musicians close enough to make it to the theater on time, the show was on the verge of being canceled. This is when Justin Hurwitz, the film’s Oscar-winning composer and the orchestra’s conductor, decided to make a wild, last-minute plea: Was there a pianist in the house who could sight-read a highly complex score on the fly? The University of Sydney politics and international studies student, Nasa, initially hesitated. Sterling had plenty of confidence in his piano and organ skills—he even tutors students learning the bagpipes. But just walking onstage and syncing up with an entire orchestra to play complex, jazz-infused music blind? That was daunting to say the least. Sterling’s friend Scarlett took the initiative; she was the one who raised his hand. Moments later, he stepped out of the crowd and into the spotlight. A Woollahra man has had the concert experience of a lifetime after answering an urgent call to fill in for a sick member of the orchestra.Sterling Nasa was in his seat ready to watch La La Land but soon found himself centre stage. pic.twitter.com/RitcctiHTg— 7NEWS Sydney (@7NewsSydney) June 1, 2026 It’s one thing to sit behind a keyboard and play along to an intricate film score unrehearsed. It’s quite another to attempt the incredibly technical, fast-paced synthesizer solo featured in John Legend’s piece from La La Land, entitled ‘Start a Fire.’ If you don’t remember it, the song features a significant solo from Ryan Gosling’s jazz-pianist character, Sebastian. Hurwitz and the other musicians in the orchestra were nervous for Nasa—with good reason. Even a seasoned professional might struggle to sight-read such a complex sequence. Instead of trying to get it perfect on the first try, he took a leap of faith and improvised instead. The show must go on… so he did When the moment came, Sebastian Nasa bet on himself, and the gamble paid off. He crafted a brilliant solo, all on-the-fly. Not just in the correct key and scale, but in the spirit of the film. This clutch performance completely wowed Hurwitz and prompted the 2,500-strong audience to erupt into applause. Speaking later to The Guardian, Hurwitz marveled at the 21-year-old’s incredible keyboard skills. “To be able to play a really cool solo… with no rehearsal—it was remarkable.” In the aftermath, the tour’s production team is now finding more permanent replacements for the remaining stops. Nasa, meanwhile, has returned to its regularly scheduled university lectures. He may not decide to pursue music full-time as a career, but for one unforgettable night, his performance rose to the occasion. One that would be sure to get an iconic Ryan Gosling appreciation nod. The post 21-year-old audience member steps up and joins ‘La La Land’ orchestra concert after pianist falls ill mid-show appeared first on Upworthy.