Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Yet another prodigy link (this is unbelievable)

plsying mendelssohn's concerto at age 11 does not neccessarily make a prodigy. Many of my teacher's students have played concerto's of that difficulty at that age

lol but WITH a professional orchestra?

yes, why not?

even those who played it with just local string groups are excellent pianist's and nowadays there are quite many kids who play with professional orchestra's

Personally, I'm completely fascinated and intrigued by child prodigies - not just piano prodigies, but prodigies in any field (art, math, chess, and even sports). I wonder (from a scientific viewpoint) what's different about these prodigies that gives them their amazing abilities and will science ever discover methods that might allow us all to unlock untapped potential within ourselves.

In his book, "The Great Pianists", Harold Schonberg says that all of the great pianists from history began as child prodigies. So, when I see a little piano prodigy on TV or on YouTube, I can't help but feel excited at the possibility that I'm looking at the next Mozart, the next Beethoven, the next Liszt, the next Chopin.

Seeing kids like this... I don't know whether it's a good or bad thing. It just intimidates me because I was never blessed with abilities such as these. On the other hand though, there will most likely come a time where all of these pianists will equal out as far as technique and repertory go... All I can do is just practice and hope to catch up.... =/

Harold Shonberg made quite the blanket statement there.
Many great musicians feel they only became serious about music in their teenaged years. It is possible to catch up in technique, but not as easily in rep. For example-go to Adam Golka's website and look at his rep list. It would take most people 50 years to master all of that.
Chess and math-type prodigies amaze me. I heard Kasparov once played 40 games at once WITHOUT a single chess board.

Does The Prodigy have a name?

Good for him I say - may he go on to be one of the greats - if that's what he wants to do

The world needs more great pianists and fewer war lords, war profitteers [sic], corrupt politicians, pedagogs [sic], religious fanatics, etc.

Kit Armstrong. Also a prodigy in other walks of life. Speaks like 5 languages. Is an undergrad at 15. Really good at origami, math and science.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=R3k38i2aBMU

imho the most unmagical performance of this work on youtube.

You guys are really something... His playing is somewhat mechanical indeed, but this guy is 15 for christ's sake. With such technique at such a young age, he can spend the rest of his life concentrating on emotions and interpretation.
Although you can be a prodigy at maths, piano, whatever else, there's only one thing that can't be innate and that's emotional maturity. A 15y/o kid, even with the highest IQ doesn't feel things the same way as a 20, 30 or 50 y/o, so how can you ask a kid of that age to play like an adult.
Intellectual maturity isn't emotional maturity.

Frankly I would be really happy if I had even half his skills, just like most of you guys.

...

There are things being developed in labs at this very moment that will one day allow nearly any child to exhibit such qualities, provided they are very interested and stick with the 21st century pedagogical method more or less. Fully fledged concert level pianists will be so common that the attention will finally come back to composition as being the element that distinguishes the talented musician from the flock, just as it was during the days when the pieces we all worship were written.

We have become so out of touch with the need for new works to refresh the repertoire that we have forgotten this, but it is inevitable that we return to the height of musical tradition since we will always take advantage of any and all new technological developments as they become available, and they will.

This is why it is so very frustrating that every time a thread like this comes up, a potential true prodigy with a wealth of compositions, we can never hear the compositions of course. This is how I would judge the child just as I would continue to judge my own works in order to improve in future efforts. It is as soon as someone else likes a rough interpretation of a new composition that it must be thoroughly learned and recorded, since nowadays we have this amazing ability to almost shut away the composers still writing new works, even if they are becoming more accessible once again.

In the best case scenario, we have a new work premiered, and then forget all about it. We give the standing ovation like we would to pretty much anything and then we move on, usually back to the classics.

People have been impeding the emergence of the 21st century style by putting it in the same bag as the 20th century works they would rather not listen to or consider performing, and this can only be remedied by awakening people to this reality and have everyone stand the new works up against the classics, work closely with humble composers willing to always try and try again, and hopefully start getting people writing on the level of the classics we so adore once again, even if in a completely new (yet accessible) style. Reading the history books, all composers have needed this process of feedback, and revision and/or writing a new work in an improved manner, to start producing masterpieces.

If 99 people read and ignored this post, and 1 person really thought about it, perhaps having studied enough music history themselves to know that this is true, the tragedy of vast segregation within the musical sub-circles of our modern times, then it would be worth taking the time to write.

It's not going to be an easy process to mend and patch the *one* musical, or even all-art circle to become closer to the way it once was, with all of the essential benefits thereof, but we have to try, it's all we can do.

I think we should encourage this prodigy to record the compositions he is most proud of. For non piano works, he should be taught how to do virtual mockups.

It's not Armstrong's iq I have a problem with-I'm sure his iq is well above 140. it's his EQ!
so what... being only 15 and having half the WTC in your reperetoire makes it okay to play mechanically?

One day anyone will be able to play well mechanically. Less people will be able to play well interpretively. Even less people will write compositions that have a lasting impression on humankind as was once popular. (but more than recently)