“Maybe I want to be an artist, maybe a pianist, or maybe composer or piano teacher,” said William Zhang the winner of the American Protege International Piano and Strings Competition. William isn’t yet sure where he’s headed but says piano is definitely in his future. One of the youngest to play, his performance was flawless. Isaiah knew that they kept an old keyboard down there, but to his. The story begins eighteen months ago, when Jude's father, Isaiah, heard sounds emerging from the basement of their family home. Then came the big day when William performed at Carnegie Hall. This heartwarming segment on CBS News tells the story of Jude Kofie, an 11-year-old autistic boy from Aurora, Colorado with an extraordinary talent. Did I look at it wrong So I blew it up on my desktop computer screen and checked. “I didn’t want to tell them because I wanted to make sure. In January, the family found out William had won the competition. We work together,” said Guangyu Zhang William Zhang’s father.Īll that work paid off. “It’s like the best team: parents, student and teacher. Today he practices up to three hours a day. Then at four and a half he began piano lessons.

So his parents, who didn’t play instruments themselves, taught him to play baby songs. He can punch the little key and make some beautiful sound and why don’t you teach him But no, nobody want to teach him,” Wang said. Zhang’s parents wanted him to start lessons at two or three but everyone told them he was too young. But they had a hunch he would take a liking to the instrument. When he was just two they bought him a $20,000 piano. “Whenever there is music in the house, he jumps and moves so we just feel he loves music,” said Julie Wang, William Zhang’s mother. William’s parents say he always responded to music. “Music brings me happiness and I want to bring the audience happiness,” Zhang said. He’s playing Mozart, one of his favorite composers along with Bach and Chopin. What got him there was this amateur video taken by his father. The 6-year-old from Atlanta, Georgia, won first prize in the American Protege International Piano and Strings Competition. In a few days, he would be playing Carnegie Hall. That's what I think is going to set him apart.Visiting New York City for the first time is an exciting experience for many, but William Zhang – had an extra reason to smile. But I think Joey has a core inside of him, a spiritual core that is transcending through his music. 'Because for a child this age, getting the kind of coverage and exposure he's getting, they easily lose it. 'I actually think that's what's going to separate Joey, is really his humanity,' Owens says. Even with over 8 million views on one of his YouTube videos, Owens says, the young artist remains humble. Owens says it's not just Alexander's musicality that sets him apart, it's his spirit. This kid is literally from another planet.' He's just gone, he's just completely in this next stratosphere. 'Watching this little kid, he's going on all these harmonic adventures and melodic adventures, and doing some really hip stuff. He has this thing that he does when he's really going somewhere, and I was like, this is freakin' amazing,' Owens says, laughing. 'I watched him close his eyes, and I watched his head kind of just bobbing to the side. When they rehearsed and recorded 'Giant Steps,' Owens says, Alexander would play himself into a trance during the intros. He's 32, and says that when he closed his eyes in the studio, he didn't hear a kid on the other side of the headphones. One of the musicians who plays on My Favorite Things is drummer Ulysses Owens, Jr. You kind of shrug your shoulders, look at each other, scratch your head and just go okay, alright - I've never seen this before.' He took another take afterwards, it was a completely different arrangement. 'And they're laughing, like this can't possibly be what we're hearing. 'Joey plays a version of 'Round Midnight,' and everybody's jaws dropped - like, looking at Joey and looking at each other,' Olaine remembers. Alexander was 10 at the time, and Olaine says a Monk tune he played on that visit impressed the musicians gathered for a rehearsal. Word started getting around, and soon he was invited to play at Jazz at Lincoln Center. That's where fellow pianist Herbie Hancock first heard him. Jazz Herbie Hancock: 'On A Path To Find My Own Answer'Īlexander's family moved from Bali, where was born, to Jakarta so he could play with some of Indonesia's best jazz musicians.

Asian boy piano prodigy