Four reasons General Hospital's Gio could start playing the violin again

On General Hospital, Gio Palmieri (Giovanni Mazza) grew up as an ultra-talented violinist and came to Port Charles to study music at Port Charles University.

He hasn’t touched a violin since destroying his instrument on stage at the General Hospital Nurses’ Ball in what remains one of the most memorable scenes and acting performances on the show in 2025.

General Hospital's Gio is a real-life star on the violin

He did so in a fit of rage after finding out by accident that he was the long-lost son of Brook Lynn Quartermaine (Amanda Setton) and Dante Falconeri (Dominic Zamprogna). Gio revealed that news to everyone in the ballroom, including his biological parents, who didn’t know this before.

Earlier in the Ball, Gio had wowed everyone with an instrumental performance on his violin, which showed Mazza’s real-life talent. In the three months since then, not only has Gio not played the violin on General Hospital, but he has closed himself off from his parents, especially Brook Lynn, with whom he was close before the big reveal.

Gio hasn’t talked about his music lately, as his focus has been working as a lifeguard at the Metro Court pool and scheming with Emma (Braedyn Bruner) to help with her investigation into Professor Dalton (Daniel Goddard).

But it’s hard to imagine that Gio the character is done with the violin for good. Giovanni the General Hospital actor has been playing the instrument since he was 3 years old and has recorded music and performed at numerous sports arenas. It may be only a matter of time before his character picks up his favorite prop again and starts to play. If and when he does, there should be a great story behind it that is just as memorable and meaningful as the moment the instrument was destroyed. Here are four ways it could happen:

His mother convinces him to

The day Gio’s music stopped at the Nurses’ Ball is an obvious parallel to the night his birth mother’s singing career ended in the same building five years prior at the General Hospital Nurses' Ball. That was when Brook Lynn (then Briana Lane) had her throat slashed by Nelle Benson (Chloe Lanier) backstage, nearly killing BLQ but still damaging her vocal cords enough that she could never sing again.

That was written so Brook Lynn could be a hero while trying to stop Nelle from kidnapping Wiley, but also to account for the fact that Amanda Setton is not a singer in real life.

Brook Lynn’s life history was all about singing from the moment she appeared on the show as a SORASed teenager in 2004. When played back then by Adrianne Leon, Brook Lynn performed on the show numerous times. That gave Leon, who has recorded a lot of music of her own, plenty of chances to show off her amazing pipes. When Brook Lynn came back to General Hospital in 2019, played by Setton, she had been spending a lot of time traveling and performing, but that stopped and eventually she encountered Nelle. Brook Lynn has since turned her career to music management and Deception Cosmetics.

Brook Lynn has never talked about the attack with Gio since the reveal. Gio has temporarily lost his love of the violin because he feels that his learning the violin was a lie. Camila, the woman who raised him as his mother, encouraged his talents, but it seems Gio inherited plenty of musical genes from his biological mother and her father, Ned Quartermaine (Wally Kurth).

One day, either Brook Lynn or Ned should remind Gio of this, and talk about Nelle’s attack, and maybe Gio will realize he needs to embrace his musical gifts because his mom can’t. This could be a big source of emotional redemption for Brook Lynn.

The Qs ask him to play at Monica’s funeral

General Hospital has not addressed the real-life passing of Leslie Charleson in January, 2025, other to name a wing of the hospital after Monica Quartermaine. The show has occasionally mentioned that Monica is ill, most recently on Aug. 11, making fans wonder if her death is coming.

There’s no word on when General Hospital will have Monica pass away. That will be a huge event when it happens, and the showrunners will want to dot all the Is, cross all the Ts, and do the tribute right like they have with other characters such as Bobbie Spencer.

If that happens in the coming months, it’s possible that Gio will be pressured to play at the memorial, as he did last year for Sam (Kelly Monaco). In this scenario, either Tracy (Jane Elliot) or someone else in the family will buy him a new violin, and he will be on the road back to music.

Emma convinces him to … with a kiss?!

Emma has been by Gio’s side since he found out that Camila wasn’t his biological mother. Emma has given him a place to stay with her and her grandmother Anna Devane (Finola Hughes) after Gio moved out of the Quartermaine mansion. Emma has been a good friend to Gio, listening to him as he processes his hurt over the secrets, and many General Hospital fans have been shipping them as a couple.

As any General Hospital fan knows, having two people realize they should be a couple is rarely easy or straightforward. Right now, Gio is supporting Emma in her investigation of Dalton in every way. First, when she decided to flirt with the professor, and then when she pretended to date the older Vaughn (Bryce Durfee) to try to access Dalton’s lab.

It’s not clear what Emma’s next plan is, but Gio has had her back the entire time. However, they don’t know about the potential danger in this mission, AKA the connection between Dalton’s research and the mysterious resort in Croatia where the not-so-dead Britt Westbourne (Kelly Thiebaud) is working.

If Gio and Emma keep on this task, one or both of them could end up in danger, or hurt. If that happens, they may realize they have feelings for each other, and give in to them. If so, romance will be afoot, Emma will resume trying to convince him to give Brook Lynn and Dante a chance, and Gio will rediscover his love for music as he feels what romantic love is.

Brook Lynn or Dante could face danger

Whether he picks up the violin or not, it’s an open question as to when Gio will forgive his parents on General Hospital and give them a chance to bond with him.

Gio’s birth parents are magnets for trouble and danger. Both are right in the middle of the current mob war between Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) and Jenz Sidwell (Carlo Rota). Deception’s finances are on the line, and Dante is a cop. Dante is also helping keep an eye on Josslyn Jacks (Eden McCoy) and the spy games in Croatia.

There are any number of reasons that Brook Lynn and Dante could get in danger or be hurt. If that happens, Gio may fear losing them, and remember how he lost his mother, Camila. He would realize that he would miss BLQ and Dante if they died, motivating him to give one or both of them a chance. And as his bitterness fades, he realizes on his own that giving up the violin was a mistake, and he’ll try again.

Catch all-new episodes of General Hospital weekdays on ABC and Hulu.