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Westlake Senior Brightens Lamar Smith’s Day
Photo credit: U.S. House of Representatives
Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, got a tranquil break from the crazed midmorning attorney general hearings and a midafternoon hate crimes bill when Charles Yang, a senior at Westlake High School in Austin, transported him (and several Smith staffers) with his Juilliard-bound violin playing skills.
“Let me tell ya, it brought a little harmony into my life in the day. It couldn’t have been better,” Smith said.
Yang, 18, performed on a violin made in France in 1826, and “what he could do with that in a few minutes was almost indescribable,” Smith said.
Yang will be appearing in the upcoming “From the Top: Live From Carnegie Hall,” on PBS, his publicist said. He was in Washington promoting the PBS special and visited Smith because he lives in Smith’s district.
The performance made Smith rue his own lack of musical talent. However, he did “once try to teach myself how to play the recorder,” Smith said.
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