Meet Sara Arkell (The Piano Gal)
Thirteen-year-old Sara Arkell (a.k.a. The Piano Gal) began playing the piano at the age of five, and she has loved it ever since. Besides playing the piano, she also loves to babysit, cook, bake and read books. She has taken first place in many competitions in Utah including the Salt Lake Piano Competition and Utah State’s Piano Festival.
In March 2015, following the release of her Frozen – Dueling Siblings video with Jason Lyle Black, which garnered millions of views worldwide on several social media sites, Sara took her first plane ride to Tokyo, Japan and appeared on Fuji TV with Jason.
The name “The Piano Gal” was inspired by her meeting The Piano Guys in November 2015. She dreams of one day performing with The Piano Guys whether onstage or in a music video.
An Opportunity to Speak with Sarah
On Saturday, 7 May 2016, Sara Arkell made a guest appearance at the signing of Jason Lyle Black’s new CD Piano Preludes at the Deseret Bookstore in Orem, Utah. On the album, she plays a duet with Jason on the song Springtime. Gabriella Loosle from the More Good Foundation was on hand for the event and had the opportunity to sit down and have a brief one-on-one conversation with Sara. The following is the transcript of that fantastic interview.
Sara’s Special Mother’s Day Tribute
I loved your mother’s day video. You have a beautiful voice. You have never sung in your videos before, have you?
Thanks, I was super nervous. No that was my first time. It took a lot of takes, but it turned out good.
Why did you choose “When She Loved Me” from Toy Story 2 for your mother’s day video?
O, I have my three younger sisters, they were in the video; they’re like mini-mes of me. So my dad thought it would be a good idea to do that song and kind of show how when a girl grows up how she kind of drifts away from her mother then she comes back to her. So I think that song just seems to fit that idea. My aunt also loves that song, so that’s part of why we chose it.
What was it like working together with your sisters to film the video?
The two-year-old was better than the four-year-old, I have to say that. The four years old, her name is Asia, was stubborn, she couldn’t wait her turn, and when it was her turn, she wouldn’t do it. We bribed them with chicken nuggets.
Are you planning on making any more videos where you’ll be singing?
People have told me I should, and that was something that had me worried. I love singing, I can sing in my bedroom whenever, but singing in front of people makes me nervous. Maybe in the future, I’ll do a couple, but the piano is still my thing.
Sara’s Dream Performance
If there were one artist you could perform with, who would it be?
(Without any hesitation) The Piano Guys.
Do you think that would be a possibility in the future?
Maybe, I don’t know. I’ve met them, and they knew who I was, and John Schmidt has shared one of my videos. Either in concert or video, performing with the Piano Guys is just my biggest dream. The Piano Guys were the inspiration for my YouTube channel name; The Piano Gal is a spoof off of that. I love the Piano Guys.
Is there a particular song that you would want to play with them?
I haven’t thought about that. I think any song would be great. I mean, it’s The Piano Guys so any song would be great.
Bringing the Conversation to a Close
The interview ended with the question, “What is next for Sara Arkell? Sara replied, “So actually, people have asked me that, and I don’t have anything in the works right now. I will be performing at the Sandy Amphitheatre with Jason Black, and we don’t have any ideas for videos in the works. There are people that I want to do videos with, but nothing is set in stone. We’ve been taking a break since we’ve done a lot lately.
Latter-day Saint Musicians would like to take this opportunity to thank Sara Arkell for taking the time to speak to Gabriella, and we want to thank Gabriella for conducting the interview for us.
