Coffee House 12/21

Students, NHS alumni, faculty, and families came to the little theatre this past Thursday for a night full of music and hot chocolate. Student talent was showcased through various different instrumental performances including Kevin Cafferty’s incredible piano rendition of “Carol of the Bells”, Robby Yampanis playing “Amazing Grace” on his bagpipes and Baker Hurley giving an entertaining acoustic performance of “Brown Eyed Girl” on his guitar. The audience was also able to see a few singers throughout the evening, including Julia Hoitt singing “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” as well as Katie Amorosino and Olivia Toccio singing a duet version of “Stone Cold”. The band Big Stick Diplomacy closed the night with some fun and upbeat original songs, opened by band member Jake Flaherty stating “today is the darkest day of the year, here is our song called ‘Lets Go to The Beach’”. All of Thursday night’s performers did not fail to impress and serve as a reminder of the abundance of musical talent here at NHS.

I also had the opportunity of asking performers Robby Yampanis and Jake Flaherty a few questions before the show...

When did you first start playing the bagpipes?

Robby Yampanis: I first started playing the bagpipes about six years ago. It was during a family trip to Scotland and staying with some family there.

Why do you play the bagpipes?

Robby: I’ve got a lot of family in Scotland. While I was staying there a lot of them play the pipes and I just started to get into it there.

When did Big Stick Diplomacy develop as a group?

Jake Flaherty: Around this time last year.

Do you guys write all your own songs?

Jake: Yeah we play all of our own except for two covers.