12-Year-Old Trumpeter From Georgia Will Play In Virtual Inauguration Parade

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For 100 straight days, Jason Zgonc played his trumpet outside Emory Decatur Hospital near Atlanta to cheer up exhausted health care workers, who were caring for COVID-19 patients.

Transcript

NOEL KING, HOST:

Jason Zgonc, a seventh-grader in Georgia, got a lot of things done this summer.

(SOUNDBITE OF TRUMPET)

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

This blows my mind. For 100 days straight - 100 days in a row - Jason played trumpet outside the Emory Decatur Hospital near Atlanta. He was trying to cheer up exhausted health care workers caring for COVID patients.

(SOUNDBITE OF TRUMPET)

KING: Today, his audience will get bigger. He'll be part of President-elect Joe Biden's virtual inauguration parade. We asked him what song he's playing, and he would not tell us. But he's already filmed his bit of the ceremony.

JASON ZGONC: I was nervous because I thought I was going to, like, keep messing up, then my feet would turn into icicles.

INSKEEP: (Laughter) Despite the cold weather, Jason says he is proud to be part of this moment in history.

J ZGONC: It feels good to be known, like, as a good thing happening during this time and not a bad thing.

INSKEEP: Jason comes from a musical family. His dad Nathan is a trombonist for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and his mom Karen runs a music school.

KAREN ZGONC: An opportunity like this is something we could have never dreamed about. Like, it's not even on the bucket list (laughter) because it's so far out.

KING: There are some other things on his bucket list, though.

J ZGONC: I want to play live for the Braves game and also play in the symphony with my dad.

KING: For now, he's focused on the moment - the honor of a place in today's virtual inauguration parade by.

(SOUNDBITE OF JASON ZGONC'S "GOD BLESS AMERICA") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.