A middle school band brought its end-of-year concert to the home of its missing flutist, who was home recovering from a kidney transplant.

Last week, nearly 40 members of the Northbrook Junior High School Wind Ensemble in Northbrook, Illinois, marched in full uniform from the school to the home of eighth grade student Emily Erickson.

Emily underwent a kidney transplant earlier this year and an extended hospital stay forced her to miss her band’s final concert of the year on May 12.

When Emily opened the door to her home on May 18, two days after she was released from the hospital, she was greeted by bandmates who presented her with her uniform and brought her out on her front yard to join the band.

“She grabbed her flute and played the whole concert,” band director Greg Scapillato told ABC News. “For everyone there, it was a memorable, never forget moment.”







It was Scapillato, a 16-year teaching veteran, who organized the surprise for Emily, who has played in her school’s band program for the past five years.

“We always talk about in our class that we’re a family and that we work closely together to make this music come alive,” Scapillato said. “This was about bringing one of our members back into the fold.”

Scapillato added, “There were lots of tears, in a good way. Everyone was so happy.”