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WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (PIX11) \u2014 Think performers in stadiums or arenas, and Beyonc\u00e9 or Bruce Springsteen understandably come to mind. But one of the country\u2019s most widely heard stadium and arena performers is actually an autistic person from the Tri-state region.<\/p>\n
Ethan Donn has now played The National Anthem at dozens of packed stadiums, having overcome some significant challenges in his life.<\/p>\n
More Local News <\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWhat he doesn\u2019t have verbally, he has musically,\u201d said Ethan\u2019s father, Jeff Donn, about their work together that has resulted in his son becoming a prolific public performer.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been an amazing journey,\u201d the father said.<\/p>\n Ten years ago, he asked Mercy University, where Ethan, 24, was doing speech therapy, if Ethan could play the national anthem at a basketball game there.<\/p>\n \u201cThey were the first team to say yes,\u201d Donn said, and from there, his son\u2019s bookings grew in number and frequency in a big way.<\/p>\n Now, Ethan has become one of the most widely heard stadium and arena performers in the country. The New York Mets were the first major team to have him play The National Anthem, and once that happened, the Yankees responded in kind. At this point, Ethan Donn has played at Yankee Stadium four times.<\/p>\n He\u2019s also played at at least nine major league baseball or NFL stadiums, and at at least two professional sports franchise arenas, as well as at dozens of college\u00a0sports events.<\/p>\n The list of all of his appearances keeps growing, and it\u2019s a point of pride for Ethan.<\/p>\n He describes his experiences in terms as big as the venues themselves. \u201cHuge! So amazing,\u201d Ethan said in an interview.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was wonderful,\u201d he said about his performances in front of tens of thousands of people. \u201cWhat I feel,\u201d he continued, \u201cis relaxing.\u201d<\/p>\n Make PIX11 your preferred news source on Google: Here\u2019s how <\/a><\/p>\n While most of his large venue\u00a0performances are on the\u00a0violin, Ethan Donn is by no means limited to that instrument solely.<\/p>\n In an interview at\u00a0his home, he sat down at\u00a0his family\u2019s baby grand piano\u00a0and played\u00a0a poignant ballad. It was a song he\u2019d composed in 2018 that\u2019s\u00a0gotten recognition in the film industry, as his father explained.<\/p>\n \u201cHe wrote an original song for the movie \u2018Victims,\u2019 streaming on Amazon Prime,\u201d Jeff Donn said. \u201cHe\u2019s got the credit on IMDB.\u201d<\/p>\n Sure enough, in the credits for the movie<\/a>, on the world\u2019s best-known source of information\u00a0about film and television, there\u2019s Ethan Donn\u2019s name, listed as providing \u201cadditional music.\u201d<\/p>\n Ethan\u2019s mother calls this natural talent a miracle.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t have any music background whatsoever,\u201d she said. In contrast, she added, \u201cHe can play anything.\u201d<\/p>\n