The story behind General Hospital star Giovanni Mazza's spectacular Nurses' Ball performance

When General Hospital's Gio Palmieri took the stage at the annual Nurses' Ball this week, Port Charles citizens were blown away by his violin performance — as were GH fans who were in awe of actor Giovanni Mazza's violin skills. Many also wondered what song he had played. GH later provided us with an answer.

Giovanni Mazza's a musical marvel

Gio blew everyone away at the General Hospital Nurses' Ball | Image: ABC

When General Hospital posted a video of the number on social media, it revealed the story behind the song.

"Art imitates life as Gio performs Glow, an original piece that the actor behind the character co-wrote and released when he was only 12 years old. Enjoy!" the post read on multiple social media platforms.

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In addition to being a talented young actor, the 20-year-old Mazza is a violin prodigy who won a Chicago Bulls youth talent contest at just nine years old. He later went on to perform at halftime shows for various NBA teams, including the LA Lakers in January of this year.

A massive basketball fan himself, Mazza has enjoyed the encounters that he's had with some big-time players, including Lebron James.

"Last year, I was playing for the [L.A.] Lakers and Lebron was watching my sound check, and he started recording me on his phone, filming me and bobbing his head along and dancing to the music, and he said something like, ‘Hey, this kid’s tough!’" Mazza told Soap Opera Digest.

General Hospital's Gio is the center of attention

Gio has no idea what's about to happen to his life | Image: ABC

On-screen, Gio's musical talents are taking second fiddle to the secret surrounding his identity, a secret he doesn't even know. During his performance of Glow, Lulu (Alexa Havins) spotted Lois (Rena Sofer) in the wings, beaming with pride. That's when Lulu grew sure that Gio had to be Brook Lynn (Amanda Setton) and Dante's (Dominic Zamprogna) son, making him Lois' grandson.

Meanwhile, Dante is still angry at Gio for a teenage drinking incident with Rocco (Finn Carr) on the beach. Brook Lynn just wants Dante to praise Gio for the performance he just gave, but Dante can barely do that much.