Prodigy

Jackson Brandt, 10, of Fayetteville, left, plays the violin as couples dance during a performance of "The Sweetheart Waltz — Love Conquers All," a program featuring members of the Washington County Historical Society's Heritage School to mark the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. The production features dancing and music as school members described the events in Fayetteville leading up to the beginning of the war based upon wartime letters from Fayetteville native Erasmus Stirman. The group will participate in the Arkansas Living History Association's annual conference March 2-4 at several location in Washington and Benton counties and plans another free performance of the program March 2 at the Fayetteville Town Center.

As the crowd was gathering in the large public meeting room at the library to wait for the program to start, Jackson entertained us with music played on the library's piano. Before the performance, the organizer of the Heritage School informed the crowd that Jackson was a prodigy of sorts, even asking his piano teacher to speak. She said he had only had about five lessons, but it sounded like he had been playing, and practicing, for years. When he stood up to play during the performance, I just had to get him in the paper.