Every city is exploding with opportunities for its residents, and New Orleans is no exception, but it’s up to us to seize the opportunities we want. Two Loyola undergrad students, sophomore Vienna Notarianni and senior Pablo Amat, seized this year’s big chance at the biggest stage in sports: Super Bowl 59.
“I started with “My Life” by Billy Joel. I tried to do crowd-pleasing stuff that I thought football fans would like,” Notarianni said. “I then did “I Will Survive,” “Valerie,” and then “Feeling Good” by Nina Simone. I closed with an original song called “TYSM.”
Their Superbowl performance was in the morning before the game, on a stage outside the Superdome’s walking area. As Pop and Commercial Music students and members of their own bands, Notarianni and Amat are no strangers to the performance side of their musical world.
“In essence, we played to the Eagles fans. We were set up on the Eagles stage, and we played to the Eagles fans, and it was a lot of fun,” Amat said. “I performed sing-along songs that I knew, and everybody else knew too.”
Notarianni and Amat got this opportunity from past and current professors in Loyola’s School of Music Industry, Kate Duncan and Mia Borders. Having the opportunity to perform on a stage of this caliber at the ages of 20 and 21 could impact your music career in many different ways, and you never know how a gig like this could go and what will surprise you most.
“I thought we were going to be playing in a parking garage. I didn’t know we had a stage,” Notarianni said. “Being on the stage we were on was a really good surprise, and they provided equipment for us, so I didn’t have to haul my gear.”
According to Amat, his biggest surprise of the morning was the security detail and the energy he felt from his audience.
“I wasn’t expecting the crowd to be as welcoming as they were. They were very warm, and were willing to sing along and to stand there for as long as I was playing and sing along with me,” Amat said. 
Getting to this level of success with your voice while simultaneously playing the keys is no small accomplishment. According to Notarianni, she has been singing since she could open her mouth. Amat, on the other hand, has been singing and playing the keys since he was 15.
“I did classical piano, and I hated it and I quit,” Amat said. “Once I quit I started listening to Billy Joel and Elton John, all these huge pop and rock stars that played the piano, and I knew I wanted to do that.”
With a new and amazing experience under her belt, looking back at this momentous occasion strengthened Notarianni’s love for her craft.
“It didn’t change anything for me, but it did reinforce that I want to work on crowd interaction,” Notarianni said. “I want people that have never heard me before to turn their head and pay attention.”
