UC Santa Barbara Flute Player Becomes Internet Sensation
A simple Facebook post about a senior flute recital propelled a UC Santa Barbara student to internet stardom.
Azeem Ward posted the public event announcement about his free recital which was scheduled for Saturday afternoon.
“It’s really strange how I didn’t even do anything to get famous. People happened to share it and post and re-post from the UK,” Ward said.
Days later, more than 100,000 people sent RSVP’s, most of them complete strangers from the United Kingdom.
The recital hall on campus where Ward was set to perform only holds 100 people.
“Azeem is a very low-key guy. He’s a very talented individual and very hard working. He’s awesome at what he does. It’s crazy– this thing blew up and no one really knows why. But, it’s awesome that he is going to get this kind of attention. It’s great for his career, said friend Andrew Manos.
After the Facebook post, the Internet memes started rolling in.
Then, on Friday, Azeem appeared on ABC’s late-night show, “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” after producers contacted one of his teachers at school.
Stuart Swift, one of Azeem’s UK fans flew into Santa Barbara to watch Saturday’s recital.
“I basically saw that it had gone so viral so I thought it would be quite a wacky and weird concept to try to go out to America and meet Azeem and try to work out a way to turn that 100,000 people on the page into something useful and positive,” Swift said.
Even with all the pressure, Ward played it cool and put on a show in front of a packed house on Saturday.
Ward said the recital was livestreamed on the Internet to 50,000 UK fans.
Ward said he hasn’t yet been able to digest his sudden fame.
“It was almost like a joke, but after I played my recital I got a lot of messages saying what I did was actually cool,” Ward said.
Ward said through his Facebook page that he’s set up a charity for the victims of the Nepal earthquake.
He is also writing some music and is planning a trip to the United Kingdom to play for all his fans who couldn’t make it to the recital.
