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H.E.R is an artist that was recognized during her younger years. At the tender age of 10, she performed on the TODAY show, playing an Alicia Keys song. H.E.R, real name Gabriella Wilson, knows how to play five instruments. She gained her fame from social media. She created a signature look that would not only make her recognizable as an artist but also allow her fans to only focus on her music and not on her looks. Her music became a statement on social media. A lot of people were intrigued by her look and music. When social media revealed who she was and that she was a child prodigy, it gained her fans and more fame. She has won many accolades and was nominated for 5 Grammy's including Best R&B album.

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H.E.R. has four Grammys, including one for song of the year in 2020. Now, the R&B songstress has earned her first Oscar after winning an Academy Award for Best Original Song in the film, Judas and the Black Messiah. The ballad, "Fight for You" was co-written and produced alongside Tiara Thomas and D'Mile.

The 23-year-old is now halfway to earning the coveted "EGOT," which is when an artist is awarded an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony.

H.E.R spent the introductory period of her career working to keep her identity under wraps. Releasing an album with just seven songs, no biography, and only a mysterious full-body silhouette on the cover, H.E.R. had people buzzing: Who is this person? What is this music? Why won't she show her face? But it wasn't all just a gimmick. While she went to great lengths to remain lowkey, her jig was up once Rihanna, Janet Jackson, Drake, and Alicia Keys sang her praises.

Today, H.E.R. is almost entirely shedding the secrecy, though she does still gaze at her adoring fans from many a pair of stylish sunglasses (We're not sure we'll ever see the day that she doesn't perform without them). It's almost ironic, actually, that as her name is an acronym for "Having Everything Revealed." Hiding one's identity so that her craft does the talking, or in other words, reveals nothing so as to reveal everything. Read on to learn more about the 22-year-old rising star poised to have a huge night at the Grammys.

She keeps a low profile.

In modes of incognito similar to the wigged Sia and the masked Pussy Riot, H.E.R. would prefer to keep her identity concealed-though not for reasons like her fellow musicians (for Sia, it's to stay mysterious; for the feminist protest punk rockers, it's so they don't get arrested). For H.E.R., she prefers anonymity to celebrity, because she would rather let the music speak for itself.

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With her debut album, Volume 1, and the follow-up, Volume 2, she teased only her silhouette on their covers. Since then, her identity has been revealed. According to , fans figured out who she was after digging through SoundCloud, with Janet Jackson and Drake both raving about her and revealing H.E.R. identity on social media. Still, she continues to flex her extensive collection of shades on and off the stage à la Sir Elton John.

H.E.R.'s real name is Gabriella Wilson.

Born Gabriella Wilson, she goes by Gabi or her stage name, H.E.R. An acronym that stands for Having Everything Revealed, it's an ironic moniker for someone who would rather remain unknown. But we'll let her explain.

"I reveal who I am and my stories and my emotions, and music is an outlet for me. But it's all revealed through my music and my message. Even though I don't show my face and I don't tell people who I am or more about me, it's-really, you get to know who I am in my music," she explained in a radio show interview.

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In a 2018 interview with though, her true identity was neither confirmed nor denied despite the fact that there's "little doubt" H.E.R. and Wilson are the same person. As the magazine put it, her "legion of fans" didn't care about her real name. They only cared about her brilliant music.

She got her big break on Radio Disney's Next Big Thing in 2009.

A child prodigy, H.E.R. had been singing and performing since girlhood. Little Gabi Wilson sang in her dad's cover band as a child, and at age 10, she covered Alicia Keys's "If I Ain't Got You" on the Today show. When she was 12, she got her big break: She was one of five finalists in an American Idol-like radio show contest, hosted by Radio Disney (she lost). The real break, however, came when she signed her first record deal with Sony at 14.

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But she exploded onto the scene in 2018 when she was nominated for Album of the Year at the Grammys.

Late 2018, H.E.R. woke up to news of two Grammy noms: one for Album of the Year (for the self-titled H.E.R. Volume 1) and another for Best New Artist. Couple her top-category nominations with her cryptic seemingly overnight fame (it wasn't), and you have quite the social media maelstrom taking over internet feeds.

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H.E.R.'s last album was released in 2019.

We love her for " Focus," " I Used to Know Her," and " Hard Place," but her upcoming album may sound a little bit different. "You never necessarily know what sound you're going to get," she told Rolling Stone. With this album, though, we can expect a "more musical" EP following in the footnotes of her predecessors. "People like Quincy Jones and even Rodney Jerkins perfected their mixes and made sure each instrument was doing the right thing. They were looking for that feeling, as opposed to looking for that hit," she added.

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She can play five instruments.

Lizzo may be a goddess with a flute and Alicia Keys a maestro of the ivories, but H.E.R. can get down with one, two, three, four, five musical instruments. A pianist, drummer, and masterful guitarist who can solo with the electric, acoustic, and bass guitar, the woman can rock out. It's not a competition, of course, but if we're keeping score, H.E.R.'s translucent Stratocaster is tops.

"Playing guitar is part of who I am, since I was a kid. I remember watching a video of Lenny Kravitz and Prince [from the Rave Un2 the Year 2000 concert] when I was a kid. That video changed my life-it made me want to play guitar just because of how rock star it is," she said to Rolling Stone.

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Prince, Lauryn Hill, and B.B. King are among her inspirations.

"When H.E.R. was a child, she'd wake up in the morning to her dad making breakfast in the kitchen and blasting the late musician's concert DVD on the television," wrote about H.E.R.'s affinity for Prince. And fans celebrate the similarities between H.E.R.'s "Lost Souls" (off I Used to Know H.E.R.) and Lauryn Hill's "Lost Ones."

Further, Rolling Stone got the artist talking about her blues roots. "B.B. King, with literally one note on the guitar, does something to everyone in the room-and that's what I've been inspired by as far as playing: feeling instead of technique," she said.

She knows the secret to life. And she learned it from Alicia Keys.

Alicia Keys, who hosted the 2020 Grammys, gave the budding R&B icon a few words of wisdom. "Alicia Keys told me that when it comes to music, all you need is three chords and the truth," H.E.R. said to Refinery29. "I think you can apply that to life, too."

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H.E.R. has four Grammys, including one for song of the year in 2020. Now, the R&B songstress has earned her first Oscar after winning an Academy Award for Best Original Song in the film, Judas and the Black Messiah. The ballad, "Fight for You" was co-written and produced alongside Tiara Thomas and D'Mile.

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While I am sure most will think of current pop artists such as Justin Bieber, Billie Eilish, Rebecca Black, etc... who have experienced stardom at such an early age, I thought I would go with cellist Nathan Chan. This Article does a great job of summarizing Nathan Chan’s experience as a young artist in an orchestra. There are more articles that focus on his Tik Tok presence, opening up classical music to the rest of the world, and this particular article mentioned his YouTube channel with a vast amount of content and covers and almost 45K subscribers.

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At 23, cellist Nathan Chan is the Seattle Symphony's most recent hire and its youngest player. He was "discovered" as a preschooler, conducting from his seat at the San Francisco Opera.

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On a late spring afternoon, Nathan Chan is walking around Benaroya Hall's backstage with his cello case on his back, looking for a quiet place to have a chat. He's just finished rehearsal for the day, and the first dressing room he peeks into is occupied by a person who looks a lot like Prince. This is not something you normally see backstage at Benaroya - a Prince tribute was the programming that night - but the same could probably be said for Chan himself.

At 23, and with a small frame and Harry Potter-ish glasses, Chan at first looks like a high-school kid who sneaked into the symphony. But once Chan starts to play, he brings a wide, rich tone, and you can hear why he's one of conductor Ludovic Morlot's most exciting recent hires.

Chan got the job as the Seattle Symphony's third-chair cello in late February, and his public debut was a week later. "My first concert with the Seattle Symphony was the music of Bugs Bunny," he laughs. "It was magical, though."

IF YOU GO

Seattle Symphony

* June 13: Chamber group plays works by Smetana, Bach, Janacek and Szymanowski;

* June 15, 17: Principal guest conductor Thomas Dausgaard leads a program including Strauss' "Alpine" Symphony;

* June 22-24: Ludovic Morlot conducts Mahler's Fifth Symphony.

Information and tickets: 206-215-4747 or seattlesymphony.org.

Chan is a young player (as well as being the most recent hire, he's the SSO's youngest musician) who fits well with Morlot's concept of expanding the symphony's appeal. Chan has his own YouTube channel where he covers pop artists such as Adele and The Beatles on the strings. Several of his videos have over a million views (he also has more standard classical fare up as well, such as Bach and Debussy).

Chan sees classical music as a living, breathing art form that continues to evolve, and one that can find new audiences. "I'd say my goal is to innovate in the way pop artists would, but to execute at the standard of a classical musician."

Like most members of the symphony, Chan's background includes years of training and hard work. His mother is a musician, and he fell for music at a remarkably early age. His résumé includes a gig that is almost too odd to believe, but it's true: at 3, he conducted the San Jose Chamber Orchestra.

This was a onetime brief piece of work, but it came about because a conductor with the San Francisco Opera observed Chan in the audience at a concert, moving his arms, conducting from his seat. It was something that came to him early on.

"My parents would put this laser disc of classical music on, and I would wave my hands around using chopsticks," he says.

His interest in the cello came just a bit later, when he was attracted to the low sounds of Beethoven's Fifth. He took his first cello lesson at 5, but his big break came at 12, and it's another résumé item that sounds surreal since it involved Carnegie Hall.

He was asked to be part of an HBO film called "The Music in Me," and that brought him to the historic New York venue. Seeing the audience in that storied hall react to music shifted something in Chan and made him believe that music would be his career. "I realized that perhaps combining music and video into a thing of its own was exceptionally powerful," he says. "I thought I should do this for the rest of my life."

From there other opportunities sprang forth. At 13, he recorded with the legendary singer Roberta Flack, at 15 he released his first classical CD, and other honors followed.

He grew up in the Bay Area, but went to college in New York, where he attended a joint program between Columbia and Julliard, so he also has a degree in economics. It was while at Julliard, he says, that he realized that his skill with the cello would be based on "how smart" he practiced as opposed to how many hours he put in.

"There is too much emphasis on repetition in some music education," he says. He suggests that young players work more on finding tools to solve problems - working on musical challenges - than just striving for perfection.

Still, Chan says, there's a lot of "blood, sweat and tears" behind every symphony performance. When he's not playing with the orchestra, Chan is exploring his newfound home in Seattle.

He calls himself a "gadget freak," and has a deposit down on the Tesla Model 3. He loves social media and Apple products. His iTunes list includes hip-hop ("right now, I'm all about Kendrick Lamar") and EDM, in addition to Brahms and Bach.

Chan's musical goal, whether he's playing with the Seattle Symphony or making a video of "Pokemon Meets Mozart" (at only 14,000 views that one would be one of his least popular productions), is to make a difference with his playing.

"I want to be the person who makes a difference between an incredible performance, and an average one," Chan says. "You can feel that when it happens. And when it does, it's just magic."

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He conducted at 3 and now he's playing with Seattle Symphony: Cellist Nathan Chan

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At 23, cellist Nathan Chan is the Seattle Symphony's most recent hire and its youngest player. He was "discovered" as a preschooler, conducting from his seat at the San Francisco Opera. Share story On a late spring afternoon, Nathan Chan is walking around Benaroya Hall's backstage with his cello case on his back, looking for a quiet place to have a chat.

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Justin Bieber is an artist that some may not consider to be a prodigy, but his discovery and rise to fame are a perfect example of what is possible in the 21st century. Musically inclined from a young age, Bieber learned to play the drums, the guitar, and the trumpet as a child. Over the course of two years he went from being an average 13-year-old to having a recording contract, all thanks to a recording from a local singing competition that went viral on YouTube.

Bieber may have been the first mega-star to have been created thanks to social media. Between YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, it is easier than ever for talent to be recognized and shared across the planet. While that may have been a blessing in many cases for Bieber, it could also be seen as a curse. His meteoric rise to fame put him in the international spotlight at a very young age, and put every choice he made under a spotlight. Social media is a two-way-street, and while many would praise Bieber on Instagram, he would also attract a lot of negative attention. This ultimately led to drug use and depression in his teens.

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Justin Bieber has written an emotional essay about how he became "the most hated person in the world" thanks to a string of "bad decisions" in his 20s.

The star, who was discovered by music manager Scooter Braun when he was 13, admitted to heavy drug use and abusing his relationships.

"I became resentful, disrespectful to women and angry," he wrote.

"I became distant to everyone who loved me... I felt like I could never turn it around."

The Canadian star, who has been candid about his mental health struggles, explained how the constant praise he received in his teens had distorted his perspective on life.

"I went from a 13-year-old boy from a small town to being praised left and right by the world, with millions saying how much they loved me and how great I was," he said.

"You hear these things enough as a young boy and you actually start believing it."

"Everyone did everything for me, so I never even learned the fundamentals of responsibility," he explained on Instagram.

'Trouble after trouble'

At 18, he had "millions in the bank" and "access to whatever [I] wanted" but "no skills in the real world". By 19, Bieber says he was doing "pretty heavy drugs" and "abused" the relationships he was in.

"I made every bad decision you could have thought of and went from one of the most loved and adored people in the world to the most ridiculed, judged and hated person in the world."

Bieber was arrested several times in 2014 with offences ranging from vandalism to driving under the influence, a charge which was later reduced to of driving without due care and attention.

"It's hard to get out of bed in the morning...when it feels like there's trouble after trouble after trouble," he wrote.

"Sometimes it can even get to the point where you don't even want to live anymore. Where you feel like it's never going to change."

However, the star, who is a devout Christian, said his faith and the support of friends and family, including his wife Hailey Baldwin, had helped turn his life around.

"It's taken me years to bounce back from all of these terrible decisions, fix broken relationships, and change relationship habits," he wrote.

"Luckily, God blessed me with extraordinary people who love me for me," he added. "Now I am navigating the best season of my life 'MARRIAGE'!!"

Image Copyright justinbieber justinbieberReport

Following the Instagram post, fans flooded Bieber's comments with messages of support and love.

"Mistakes were made but the truth is that you found your way back to a better place," wrote one. "I'm proud to be a Belieber."

"I've always loved you, Justin, through everything, and always knew there was good in you," added another.

Bieber's former bodyguard Kenny Hamilton commented: "Proud of how far you've come. We are all here to support you."

And Kyle Massey, who starred on the Disney TV show That's So Raven, also thanked Bieber for shining a light on the "ups and downs" of achieving fame at a young age.

"The point of view of a child star is one most people and media ignore," he wrote on Instagram. "My family and friends are the only reason I've been able to keep my head on straight."

Bieber took an extended break from music after cancelling the final 14 dates of his 2017 Purpose World Tour, saying: "I want my mind heart and soul to be sustainable".

However, he has recently appeared as a guest vocalist on Ed Sheeran's number one single I Don't Care, and a remix of Billie Eilish's Bad Guy - prompting speculation he might be about to return with new solo material.
Follow us on Facebook, or on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk .

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Justin Bieber opens up about drugs and depression

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Justin Bieber has written an emotional essay about how he became "the most hated person in the world" thanks to a string of "bad decisions" in his 20s. The star, who was discovered by music manager Scooter Braun when he was 13, admitted to heavy drug use and abusing his relationships.

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The Versace Flow: Triplets in Hip-Hop--Thanks to the Migos

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The Versace Flow: Triplets in Hip-Hop--Thanks to the Migos

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In 2013, three young black men from Atlanta, released their first debut single, Versace. The remix features Drake. This group is the Migos: Quavo, OffSet, and TakeOff. Versace changed the rap game, reintroducing the triplet flow. I came across this article while student teaching and preparing for a Hip-Hop Unit with 4th and 5th graders. As I was searching for a “prodigy,” I was listening to Montero, Lil Nas X’s album and recalled that the Migos were prodigies of the 21st century rap game.

The triplet is not uncommon to many musicians. Its flow, however; is something that many hip-hop artists have not used since the Y2K Era. Because of the triplet flow, Versace has reopened the door for many artists to express themselves and their articulations using triplets. Although they did not create the triplet flow, the Migos are the most famed for its use and resurface. Today, many rap artists, like Megan Thee Stallion, Da Baby, Doja Cat, and Cardi B, have included the triplet flow in their songs. If you turn on the radio to your local Hip-Hop Station, someone is using the triplet flow.

On the other hand, the triplet flow’s effect on the rap game has also made more and more rappers try to avoid the triplet flow due to everyone sounding the same. In the article’s attached VOX video, Snoop Dogg is against the use of the triplet flow because now everyone sounds the same; there is no variety of flow anymore.

Social Media, during the rise of the Migos, allowed for them to push forward their music to producers and audiences like you and me. This song was not released on their official debut album, but instead their mixtape. Mixtapes are not often placed onto music streaming networks such as Apple Music, Spotify, and Pandora. To find mixtapes, back in the 2010s, you had to search for them on SoundCloud and YouTube. As the availability of music has increased, some artists are going back and re-releasing their mixtapes for streaming platforms. Social Media is how Versace, like many other non-labelled artists, become discovered by record labels. Since 2013, the Migos have signed a deal with 300 Entertainment, released four albums, and been nominated for several music awards.

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In 2013, Migos made it to the Billboard charts with "Versace." It was a viral hit and it put the spotlight on a very unique rap flow: the triplet.

The triplet is a standard in musical composition - it happens when three notes occur over one beat. In rap they work in a similar way, except the three notes happen to be syllables in a word or phrase. Triplets, especially those delivered in a sort of cascading cadence over an entire verse, are now so popular that nearly every mainstream rap artist has used them. Kendrick rapped in triplets in one of the most dramatic moments of his latest album, Damn., and Chance the Rapper used triplets on the opening track of Coloring Book.

In the video above, Justin Hunte and Martin Connor join me to tell the story of where the triplet flow came from and how it's been a common tool for rappers since Three 6 Mafia and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony's debut albums in the '90s.

I've also compiled a few of my favorite rap songs that use the triplet flow in the playlist below. Try to spot them!
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To our delight, you, our readers, helped us hit our goal of adding 2,500 financial contributions in September in just 9 days. So we're setting a new goal: to add 4,500 contributions by the end of the month. Reader support helps keep our coverage free, and is a critical part of sustaining our resource-intensive work. Will you help us reach our goal by making a contribution to Vox with as little as $3?

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In 2013, Migos made it to the Billboard charts with "Versace." It was a viral hit and it put the spotlight on a very unique rap flow: the triplet. The triplet is a standard in musical composition - it happens when three notes occur over one beat.

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The original video that made William Zhang a child prodigy was his performance in Carnegie Hall. https://youtu.be/oybU09RQUTs
He, like our virtuosos we have studied this week, has a love of music and began music studies at a very young age. Besides being precious and adorable, I like how William said his favorite composer was Mozart. When he was asked why, he said "because we have similar personalities, mischievous and playful". Child prodigies are encouraging yet discouraging at the same time because they are so amazing at their craft and so young. In the original interview, William was brought to New York and spoke with prestigious music institutions like Julliard to see how he could best develop his musicality. The news clip paints William as a phenomenal and extraordinary child with amazing piano skills. In his BBC interview, William spoke about possibly pursuing music as a career but he is enjoying just "being a kid" for now. I think society in the past has pushed child prodigies to pursue their craft, but what about if they choose another path? While the media paints William as adorable, I like how they included that he might pursue music or some other study.

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William Zhang is an 8 year old piano prodigy from the US state of Georgia. He is one of the youngest pianists to have performed at the famous Carnegie Hall in New York, after he won a competition to play there in 2019.

He told Newsday's Rahul Tandon that he gets the same excitement from playing the piano that other children get from theme parks.

"Playing the piano... is as fun as riding on a rollercoaster, loop-de-looping through the air or riding a dolphin jumping out the water. And when I play piano I also feel the composers are watching me, riding on broomsticks zooming around the piano."

(Photo: William Zhang at the piano. Credit: Julie and Todd Zhang)

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BBC World Service - Newsday, 8-year-old piano prodigy: 'I'm just happy now to be a kid'

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William Zhang is an 8 year old piano prodigy from the US state of Georgia. He is one of the youngest pianists to have performed at the famous Carnegie Hall in New York, after he won a competition to play there in 2019.

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I remember growing up and watching Jackie Evancho when I first became interested in music. She rose to fame at ten years old when she shocked judges with her operatic voice on America’s Got Talent.  She started singing at eight years old after going to see the musical The Phantom of the Opera with her family and from there began voice lessons. After going viral and winning hearts on AGT, her career soared, as she is the youngest person to have multiple platinum albums. She produced multiple renowned Christmas albums, performed at Lincoln Center, and collaborated with many large names in the music world including Tony Bennett, Susan Boyle, Josh Groban, and others. She performed feats in vocal performance and stamina as a child performer in the craziness of Hollywood.

Her rise to fame at such a young age painted her to be an angel with blonde hair, singing such a mix of operatic staples, famous movie title songs, and musical theatre. This article talks about her feats at her career’s beginning and her transition to adulthood and how that affected her image and career. She’s moved to New York City to start her first tour as an adult and expresses excitement for what is to come.

In her first audition, Jackie is painted as a pure, innocent child with a garden, a big family, and lots of pets. She sings the well-known piece “O mio babbino caro” Audiences are stunned by her mature-sounding voice, and they praise her for her talents and promote her to be a future star. She’s again so sweet and in tears at the end of the video in her little pink dress. She grew up producing multiple albums and traveling all around the world. I feel like this can take a toll on a young child. Being so young and so well-known in the public sphere and being shaped into this angelic person because of her voice. I feel like that would play a large role in the media shaping her identity for her.

In her recent audition, in 2019, Jackie Evancho is now eighteen! She talks about her tours and how she never thought she would’ve been so popular because she did not win America’s Got Talent the first time. Her appearance has changed, as she now wears a more mature dress with more dramatic face makeup. She performs music of the night, and I must admit this performance is less impressive than ones of the past. Maybe because she’s now grown up and her voice still sounds the same? Her innocence and angelic characterization of childhood fame could make it more difficult for a now-adult performer to transition into more mature thematic and topics in performance and artistry because of previous media's portrayals of her.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3d_XTvLalJk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CM1KN7zT3lE

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Just ten-years-old when she rose to fame on America's Got Talent, Jackie Evancho is all grown up now, and still singing her heart out.

Now 18, Evancho is best known for top Billboard charting songs, like O Holy Night and classic crossover tunes from the silver screen.

A mix between Hollywood siren and Christmas angel, Evancho is hard to miss on stage with her shimmery dresses, halo of blonde hair and symphony orchestra behind her. She has enchanted millions in three solo PBS concerts, and is, to date, the youngest person to give a solo concert at Lincoln Center in New York City, where she now lives.

Evancho has produced records with David Foster, who helped contemporaries like Josh Grobin rise to fame. Her album Dream With Me featured duets with Barbara Streisand and Britain's Got Talent super star, Susan Boyle.

Songs from the 2011 album, Dream with Me, will no doubt figure into her concert tour this spring, as will vocals from her most recent 2017 album, Two Hearts. Evancho cut the Two Hearts album on the heels of her spotlight performance at Trump's Presidential inauguration, helping cement her as a household name.

This year, her live concert tour includes a medley of Italian opera, as well as more contemporary cover songs and movie themes. Fans will hear Enya's "May It Be" from Lord of the Rings, Celine Dion's "Have You Ever Been in Love" and Taylor Swift's "Safe and Sound".

Her musical stylings are a repertoire of classical arias and pop classics that she handpicked to suit her unique voice - a voice her family recognized as special when, as a little girl, Evancho belted out songs from Phantom of the Opera.

Her concerts show her ability to shift from more simple songs like Disney's "When You Wish Upon A Star" to Puccini's "Nessun Dorma," and other arias that made the career of Envacho's mega famous predecessors, like Pavarotti and Kathleen Battle.

Since moving to the Big Apple in January, the young star has announced her first tour there, set for April.

"As for my first show in NYC as an adult, I'm incredibly excited! This will be my first show in my new hometown. I'm proud to call myself a New Yorker," Evancho said.

But right now, Evancho will be right here in the Sunshine State, kicking off her Florida tour in South Florida on Thursday, March 14 7:30 p.m. at the Coral Springs Center for the Arts. Tickets are $42.80 - $64.20 at the Coral Springs Center for the Arts located at 2855 Coral Springs Drive, Coral Springs.

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Jackie Evancho, Singing Prodigy, Brings Angelic Voice to Coral Springs

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Just ten-years-old when she rose to fame on America's Got Talent, Jackie Evancho is all grown up now, and still singing her heart out. Now 18, Evancho is best known for top Billboard charting songs, like O Holy Night and classic crossover tunes from the silver screen.

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He represents the sounds of my collegiate and young adult days. T-Pain and his use of auto-tune is simply amazing. Not just auto-tune but the amazing work he has done as a songwriter, producer, and artist is simply amazing. T-Pain has collaborated with many artists in various genres of music. For example, Kanye West, Taylor Swift, Flo Rida, and Pitbull to name a few.

While being criticized for using autotune to change the hip-hop and R&B culture, T-Pain made a lot of music that is still played on the radio, covered by band and instrumental groups, and their is probably a T-Pain hook currently running through your mind as you read this Padlet entry. T-Pain has two Grammy Awards to his credit.

Social media has actually done a T-Pain a great service as it has showed his true talent. He performed a "Tiny Desk Concert" and without the use of AutoTune he wow'd the audience with his great performance of some of his classic songs. This concert went viral on various social media streams including Twitter and people developed a new found respect for one the prodigies of our time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIjXUg1s5gc

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Rappers are supposed to be immune to hate. Even Drake, who is famously unafraid to appear sensitive and vulnerable in his songs, never wavers on this: haters are losers who do not deserve his attention. "Got one reply for all of your comments: fuck what you think," as he put it on last year's "Tuscan Leather."

T-Pain was never very good at being a rapper. He tried to be, when he was just starting out. But, as he told me in a recent interview, he ultimately decided to break into hip-hop as a singer instead. The move worked: T-Pain's first album, the aptly named "Rappa Ternt Sanga," released in 2005, made the chubby twenty-year-old from Tallahassee a star. Before long, he was generating one hit single after another, both on his own and as a featured guest alongside heavyweights like Kanye West, R. Kelly, and E-40. Even at the height of his celebrity, he never acted tough or particularly cool; his trademark accessories were a giant top hat and Oakley sunglasses that made him look like a snowboarder. Lately, T-Pain has been doing something even more unorthodox in hip-hop: telling sad stories, in public, about what it felt like when everyone, including some of his fellow-artists, started treating him like a joke.

The songs that made T-Pain a household name in the mid-aughts were mostly about having fun at night clubs and hanging out with pretty girls, but the most important thing they shared was a signature studio effect called Auto-Tune. Traditionally seen as nothing more than a pitch-correcting technology used in secret to patch up flawed vocal takes, Auto-Tune became something else in T-Pain's hands, turning the human voice into a new and bewitching instrument, and giving his in particular a vaguely alien and a computerized quality that sounded at once triumphant and melancholy.

Though most pop-music fans still remember T-Pain's big hits, most notably the slinky and infectious " Buy U a Drank," by his fourth album, "Revolver," in 2011, he had come to be seen as an uncool novelty act-a goofy-looking dork who rode to fame with a production gimmick that not only sounded corny but concealed his true lack of singing ability. In 2009, Jay Z released a hit single called "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)," intended to draw a line between so-called "real" hip-hop and poppy soft stuff; it inspired fans to chant "Fuck T-Pain!" during live performances. That same year, Christina Aguilera, of all people, was photographed wearing a T-shirt that said " AUTO TUNE IS FOR PUSSIES." The comedy rap group The Lonely Island featured T-Pain on their song "I'm on a Boat," performing more or less as a parody of himself. The song was nominated for a Grammy; when asked about the honor on the red carpet, T-Pain admitted it was kind of weird that his music didn't get nominated, but a "mockery of the art" did.

The apparent collapse of his career sent T-Pain, now twenty-eight years old, into a depression that left him unmotivated to make any more music. Only recently has he emerged from this dark period: he has started work on a comeback album, landed the tense and pretty single " Up Down (Do This All Day) " on the charts, and today embarks on a tour called "I Am T-Pain." To promote all that activity, T-Pain has also been giving interviews, in which he has candidly discussed the experience of turning from one of pop's hit-makers into a walking punch line.

What started the backlash, as T-Pain sees it, wasn't the Jay Z diss but, rather, so many relentlessly lame performers (Ke$ha, the Black Eyed Peas) being moved to give Auto-Tune a whirl after "Rappa Ternt Sanga" came out. Soon, everyone was using Auto-Tune; listeners simply got sick of it, and he became a martyr for having influenced the trend.

There's an argument to be made that T-Pain should have just stopped using Auto-Tune and figured out some other way to stand out-that, sometimes, it's worth listening to the haters. But what has made T-Pain most resentful since his fall from the top was seeing certain artists use Auto-Tune and not get criticized; rather, they were celebrated as innovators in a way that T-Pain never was. Chief among these were Kanye West, who employed Auto-Tune to great acclaim on his 2008 album, "808s and Heartbreaks," and, more recently, the Atlanta-based rapper/singer Future, whose use of Auto-Tune has won him the adoration of critics as well as incredible success on the charts.

In an interview this past January with Vladimir Lyubovny, a d.j. whose popular YouTube channel VladTV is sort of like rap's "Larry King Live," T-Pain talked about being brought in as a consultant during the recording of "808s and Heartbreaks." At one point during the session, Kanye wrote a song about how dumb all of T-Pain's ideas were. He then proceeded, T-Pain said, to make "everybody in the studio join in with him to sing, like, 'T-Pain's shit is weak.' " In the same interview, T-Pain recalled encountering Future's brother at a Thanksgiving fundraiser and telling him he was eager to collaborate with Future. But instead of offering to pass on the message, the guy looked at T-Pain and said to him, "My brother would never fucking work with you. Fuck you and everything you stand for."

Hearing T-Pain recount these slights, one may suspect that he is trotting them out strategically, in service of getting press and laying the groundwork for the release of his next album. But so what if he is? Anyone who has ever felt the sting of ridicule should be able to relate to his experiences, especially given how, contrary to what one might expect from a prosperous grown man with a stack of No. 1 records to his name, T-Pain really took all the negativity to heart. As he told the radio personality Sway, the criticism and mockery convinced him that he actually was worthless as an artist. "I just wasn't proud of myself anymore."

Before I call T-Pain to interview him on a recent Friday evening, his publicist warns me not to expect bitterness but optimism-a T-Pain who no longer cares what anyone thinks, and is ready to return to center stage on his own terms. In light of the circumstances, I'm not surprised to hear that work on his new album, titled "Stoicville: The Phoenix," has been a deliberately low-key process. "It's usually just me and my engineer," T-Pain says. "I try not to crowd out the studio with too many different opinions. You don't want everybody trying to put their two cents into a song that's supposed to be coming from your heart."

This, it turns out, has become T-Pain's great bugbear-that everyone is always giving him an opinion about what he's doing. It was this feeling of constantly being judged, he says, that led to the crisis of confidence he suffered in the wake of "Revolver," an album that was supposed to demonstrate his will to "evolve," as the pun in the title suggested, but instead turned out to be his worst-selling effort to date, and solidified his past-due status. "I wasn't getting the credit I felt like I deserved," he tells me. "I was getting shitted on. So I was just like, well, I'm not gonna keep doing this if that's all I'm gonna get."

He sounds infectiously, incongruously chipper as he says this, cheerfully laughing at the straightforward cause-and-effect relationship between the album's reception and his reaction to it. "People can act like, you know, 'I don't care about when people hate on me,' but the second that they do, you feel that!" T-Pain says. "Like, that's really somebody saying that shit about you-it's not, like, an artificially generated comment that these people are leaving on these YouTube videos.... When people say I suck and I should kill myself, I don't really feel good about that!"

People always tell him it makes no sense for someone in his position to care so much about idiot teen-agers posting comments on social media. "People are, like, 'You're rich!' What're you so worried about?' " he says. "And I'm, like, money ain't the issue here. Yeah, I can buy shit. But I want people to like me, too! God damn!"

When he says this, once again laughing, I think instantly about the photograph on the cover of Drake's "Take Care," which shows the artist sitting glumly in front of a golden goblet, looking painfully aware of how little solace his riches can bring him in his darkest moments. The difference is that while Drake is comfortable making art out of his loneliness and disappointment, at the end of the day, when he goes out in public, he tends to come off as utterly untouchable. T-Pain is the opposite: as far as I know, he has never channelled any of his sadness about the way he's been treated into his music, but he's completely willing to talk about it when asked.

It occurs to me to wonder whether this might change-whether T-Pain's next album, the one he's working on right now in his secluded home studio, might reflect some of the hurt that he's clearly still carrying. But when I ask him about it, he waves it off. "It's gonna be about having a good time, man. And being true to yourself." That, he explains, is why he's calling it "Stoicville."

I assume, at first, he means for the album to project a sense of indifference in the face of criticism. But it turns out this is dead wrong.

"Stoicville," T-Pain continues, "is where everybody is stoic-where nobody has emotions. You don't get shit from anybody in Stoicville. You don't get people saying or doing fucked up shit to you. Everybody's just stoic. Nobody has emotions and everybody minds their own fucking business. That's the town for me. That's where I want to live." The way he says it, I swear he sounds like he's in a great mood.

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Rappers are supposed to be immune to hate. Even Drake, who is famously unafraid to appear sensitive and vulnerable in his songs, never wavers on this: haters are losers who do not deserve his attention. "Got one reply for all of your comments: fuck what you think," as he put it on last year's "Tuscan Leather."

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Many of us have heard of JACOB COLLIER and the greatness there within him and his music. Collier is a GRAMMY-Award winning artist, crafting some of the most thought-provoking, culturally-diverse music in the current era. Having perfect pitch and unbelievable virtuosity on every instrument he picks up, Collier studied in conservatories from a young age where he explored the expansive vocabulary we hear in his music.

Being part of this century, the internet is what allowed him to shoot to the fame he possesses. He started off making transcriptions and arrangements, singing and performing every recorded part, and posting them on YouTube. This led to Quincy Jones discovering him, singing him, and then him winning a GRAMMY or four. He is revered on Social Media by his fans, but much of the media don't understand how to appreciate his art for its depth. You can see that division in this article: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/03/10/magazine/jacob-collier.html

Many trained musicians compare his to Stravinsky, or call him the next Mozart, and I'm excited to see what else comes out of this young, musical genius.

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These Artists Got Us Through a Pandemic Year

These Artists Got Us Through a Pandemic Year

These Artists Got Us Through a Pandemic Year

These Artists Got Us Through a Pandemic Year

These Artists Got Us Through a Pandemic Year

These Artists Got Us Through a Pandemic Year

These Artists Got Us Through a Pandemic Year

These Artists Got Us Through a Pandemic Year

These Artists Got Us Through a Pandemic Year

These Artists Got Us Through a Pandemic Year

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You Might Never Guess That Jacob Collier Was a Genius

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These Artists Got Us Through a Pandemic Year These Artists Got Us Through a Pandemic Year These Artists Got Us Through a Pandemic Year These Artists Got Us Through a Pandemic Year These Artists Got Us Through a Pandemic Year These Artists Got Us Through a Pandemic Year These Artists Got Us Through a Pandemic Year These Artists Got Us Through a Pandemic Year These Artists Got Us Through a Pandemic Year These Artists Got Us Through a Pandemic Year

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https://www.sparky.wtf/news/aron-the-bassist-producer-and-artist-never-gives-up

Aron Hodek is a 10 year old bass prodigy from Komarno, Slovakia. His playing has caught the attention of many of the music industries most well know musicians and producers even at his young age. Social media has really helped talented musicians of all ages become discovered at a faster rate than before. On his Instagram page he can be heard playing covers of music from Motown, hip hop and R&B. The article provides some background information as well as some of the music he has performed in his young career/life.

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By all means, Aron Hodek defies music industry norms. At just 10 years old, he has built a sizable and dedicated following as both an artist and producer. A man of multiple aliases, he is known as both Aron the Bassist and Aron the Producer. The young musician hails from Komárno, Slovakia, where he has honed his craft for years.

Aron began posting videos of himself playing the bass in his house when he was about 7. His undeniable talent and consistency earned him a solid fanbase in his early years dropping his bass videos. During the past year, he has achieved viral attention on his YouTube channel. His Kirk Franklin and Dua Lipa videos took off, and introduced the young bassist to millions of new listeners. Six months ago, his Smokie Norful cover for "I've Been Delivered" dropped, and was an instant hit. Watching Aron shred a gospel song is both astonishing and beautiful. There is definitely a shock value when watching Aron play. As his fingers slide along the frets, his face twists with a discernible passion.

Although he is young, Aron's talent has not gone unnoticed. His list of accolades runs longer than many musicians triple his age. Music icon Quincy Jones even acknowledged Aron's talent. Aron has also collaborated with household name brands like Zara and Gap and appeared on A-list talk shows with Ellen and Steve Harvey. However, if anything speaks to his legend, it is the fact that he is the recipient of his hometown's Mayor's award. And everyone loves a hometown hero.

Today is a milestone in Aron's life, as today, he dropped his first single. "Never Give Up" is a collaboration between Aron on bass and Doobie Powell the vocals. The song features Aron doing what he does best: tearing it up on the bass. Over Aron's groovy bassline, Doobie Powell sings about the importance of finding your passion. This is fitting as Aron's passion is evident in both his work and his work ethic. Aron's star shines bright on the track as he fills the instrumental with bouncy and irresistible bass notes. Take a look at the music video for "Never Give Up" right here!

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Aron the Bassist, Producer, and Artist "Never Gives Up" - Sparky

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By all means, Aron Hodek defies music industry norms. At just 10 years old, he has built a sizable and dedicated following as both an artist and producer. A man of multiple aliases, he is known as both Aron the Bassist and Aron the Producer.

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Meet Jose’ Andre’ Montaño featured in this 2015 Washington Post article.  The article is from December of that year and the video attached showcases Jose’ Andre’ pleasuring an audience with his version of the holiday classic “Silent Night”.  He is from Bolivia and currently resides and studies music in Washington DC.  Jose’ Andre’ is a jazz pianist prodigy with remarkable talent and a personality that pleases the world as much as his music.  What makes Jose’ Andre’s talents even more amazing extends beyond the fact that he was about nine years old at the time of the article.  Jose’ Andre’ is blind and attends School Without Walls at Francis Stevens.

According to Jose’ Andre’s mother, he began playing at the age of three and had always had a love for music and music making by using items in the house.   He has performed at such places as the Kennedy Center and since the time of this article has been featured by Reuters and the BBC.  Jose’ Andre’s musical talent is well supported by his parents, and he is known to have remarkable improvisational skills in jazz piano. In addition, Jose' Andre' has numerous videos of his virtuosic performances on Youtube.

The video presented in the article reveals the most appealing aspect of Jose’ Andre’s title as a child prodigy.  That is his personality.  Jose’ Andre’ loves music for what it is and for the way it makes him feel.  In addition to having such a positive aspect on music and life, Jose’ Andre’ loves people and finds great joy in performing for others and spreading his happiness to others through music.

This article and the videos I have found of Jose’ Andre’ reveal him to be a very kind and humble child who feels blessed by his musical gifts and motivated by his physical circumstance.  His inspiration is spread to the world by the beauty found in his performance of jazz.  The passion and emotion revealed in his playing affirms the nature of his character.

While social media has allowed music celebrity to be globally spread at a rapid pace, it has also opened the door for instant feedback, which can be either negative or positive.  The world we live in sometimes allows us to get caught up in the personal purposes of social media.  Meaning, some people use social media as a form of communication, others to educate, and some simply for entertainment or a chance to unwind and step away from physical reality for a moment.  However, it does not always allow for the appreciation of the art presented by music celebrities.  I hope you enjoy listening to the talents of young Jose’ Andre’ and find the passion in his music that was able to inspire me just from my short listening.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTLgSiXXHtI

http://www.mmmusicagency.com/joseacute-andreacute-montantildeo.html

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D.C. student José André Montaño is a 10 year-old Jazz piano prodigy who happens to be blind and doesn't allow his disability to get in the way of his music. (Lee Granados)

When José André Montaño was a toddler he would grab anything within reach -including cans or even bottles-and make music.

A precocious child, he was always trying to find hidden rhythms and melodies in everyday life, said his mother, Giovanna Baina. Then he discovered the piano.

"He started playing when he was three years and a half," she said. "It was like a natural talent that he had."

Now 10 years old, José André is jazz piano prodigy who has performed at the Kennedy Center and the World Bank with another show booked in New York in January.

What makes his talent all the more impressive is that José André, a fourth grader at School Without Walls at Francis Stevens, is blind.

"This first thing is some people don't believe what he can do," his mother said, noting that she and her husband have never been serious musicians. "We think it's amazing. We think it's a gift that he has."

Pianos: Beyond the Steinway monoculture

José André was born in Cochabamba, Bolivia. He moved in the fall to Washington, where his parents work.

His mother said that José André began taking lessons at age 5 and started performing at age 7. He has played piano in his native Bolivia as well as Peru, Brazil and Mexico. At a recent school holiday ceremony, José André put his own styling on the classic Christmas hymn "Silent Night."

"He plays the piano by only hearing the notes," Baina said. "He doesn't make a tune the same way all the time. He likes to improvise a lot. He plays what he feels at the moment."

In most ways, José André is your typical youngster. He enjoys video games, playing the drums and has a passion for soccer. He has a special devotion, however, to music.

"I feel happiness and joy when I play the piano because music is life for me," José André said. "I like to play the piano because it makes me very happy and it brings many emotions to me."

José André said that he enjoyed playing for his schoolmates. In the spirit of the holiday, he also had a message for other children throughout the world.

"That they be happy and that they have to enjoy life and most of all that they keep on dreaming because they deserve what they dream," José André said.

Finally, he said. "Don't fight. And love each other."

Today's Headlines The most important news stories of the day, curated by Post editors and delivered every morning.

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Meet the DCPS student who is a 10 year-old jazz piano prodigy and happens to be blind

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When José André Montaño was a toddler he would grab anything within reach -including cans or even bottles-and make music. A precocious child, he was always trying to find hidden rhythms and melodies in everyday life, said his mother, Giovanna Baina. Then he discovered the piano.

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Video example- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hli-9maxDjY

Dylan Beato is a 13-year-old from Stone Mountain, GA. He has perfect pitch, which is not entirely prodigy-worthy in itself. As music teachers, we know that a small percentage of the population is born with perfect pitch, and many musicians develop relative pitch. What is unique about Dylan is that his father, Rick Beato, has developed his ear training to an amazing level.

Rick Beato is a music producer and noticed that Dylan had perfect pitch when Dylan was about 4 years old. They were riding in the car and Dylan was singing along with a Star Wars soundtrack in the correct key. Later, Rick tested Dylan by asking him to sing the Star Wars theme, and Dylan sang it in the original key. Rick began quizzing Dylan and noticed that he had incredible pitch-identifying ability, even before he had been taught the organized notation system. He referred to a B-flat as “Star Wars”.

Rick then began working on developing Dylan’s ear to the point that he can now identify incredibly complex chords. Rick also started recording Dylan and quizzing him on camera, playing a chord and waiting while Dylan perfectly sang back each note by name. He uploaded many videos to Youtube. The videos went rather viral and were shared amongst musicians and others on Facebook and Youtube. Dylan’s training continued as his fame grew.

Rick Beato has now developed an app called Nuryl, designed to play highly complex music for babies that will stimulate their musical cognitive skills. (Mozart for babies, anyone?) He also developed a Beato Ear Training program. This AJC article mentions at the end that Dylan doesn’t even have a particular interest in music, even though he can play piano and isolate pitches extremely well. He’d rather play games, solve puzzles and cheer on the Falcons.

As with all internet kid celebrities, it seems a little like the parent is taking advantage of the child and generating fame and money. Social media lets us all peek into each other’s lives and that includes minors who may not have a say in whether their photo or video gets plastered all over the internet. Dylan’s videos went viral and he has been interviewed by several newspapers from a very young age. In the videos, he doesn’t seem to enjoy singing the isolated pitches very much. His father has definitely portrayed Dylan as an emotionless genius that can sing back pitches somewhat like a robot. His ability is incredible, and hopefully, he enjoys music enough to continue to participate in it in school and life.

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Meet Dylan, the Atlanta child whose ear went viral

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The World's Best Ear: An Atlanta phenom's perfect pitch

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Emily Bear is a piano prodigy (though she prefers to not be called “prodigy”). From Rockford, Illinois, Emily Bear started playing piano at age 3, under the instruction of her grandmother. Once her family realized how incredibly gifted she was, they pursued professional training from talented instructors such as the former principal keyboardist in the Chicago Symphony, Mary Sauer, to Veda Kaplinsky, head of piano at Juilliard. At the young age of 6, she appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and wowed the world with her amazing piano skills. On the show, Bear played three piano excerpts: “Fantasia in D minor” by Mozart, a jazz piece called “C Boogie”, and a song composed by Bear herself. When Ellen asked her how long it took to compose the beautiful piece, Bear replied ,“10 minutes”. There was an audible gasp in the audience. Emily appeared on the show again a year later and composed a song dedicated to Ellen called “Once Upon a Wish''. Bear proceeds to tell Ellen that she wrote it to play at Ellen and Portia’s wedding.

At 12 years old, Emily Bear was signed by Quincy Jones (who has been her mentor ever since). Jones had not signed a solo artist’s album since Michael Jackson’s album, “BAD”. Needless to say, Bear was incredibly flattered. Bear made numerous records, under the guidance of Jones, and toured all over the world. She has played at Carnegie Hall, the White House, and even traveled to China and Italy. Jones called her the “complete 360 degree package” and an inspiration.

From a young age, Bear knew she wanted to be a composer. She had a natural gift for the piano, but her extra special gift was composing music. She studied Film Score Composition at NYU when she was only 13 years old. She made incredible connections and learned advanced skills that typical 13 year olds would not even be able to comprehend.

Emily Bear is now 20 years old and has composed music for Disney, Pixar, Universal, and many more large corporations. Currently, she is writing the TikTok Bridgerton Musical, which has taken the social media world by storm. Bear has been visible on all forms of social media, but TikTok really helped move the idea of this musical forward. Social media has absolutely helped propel her career. Once the world saw what a big success the first TikTok musical Ratatouille was, they pushed for more. Bridgerton was a big hit on Netflix, at the time, so Bear and writing partner, Abigail Barlow, got to work on a new musical. The musical has not yet been published, but is in the works.

Bear is what some call a prodigy: a child who shows extraordinary ability at an early age. One media source even said, “If you close your eyes and listen, she is ageless”. The common descriptors of Bear from the media are “piano prodigy”, “born with a gift”, “versatile performer”. The media also describes Emily’s life as more typical than a person would expect. Emily’s mother Andrea mentions that Emily still does other activities that other kids do. Emily even mentions that she prefers not to be called a prodigy because she thinks of the word as having a negative connotation. While Bear’s whole family is very musical (brother plays piano and sax/sister plays harp and piano/mom plays mom), their family is showcased as a typical family.

Bear’s musical vocabulary spans from classical to jazz to pop to cinematic music, so many areas of media cover her work. From the local news to the Kelly Clarkson Show to NPR, the media is interested in the incredibly talented, Emily Bear.

https://wgntv.com/news/cover-story/emily-bear-from-piano-prodigy-to-pop-singer/

https://www.emilybear.com/

CBS Chicago. (2013, October 25). Your Chicago: Piano Prodigy Emily Bear. CBS.

https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2013/10/25/your-chicago-piano-prodigy-emily-bear/

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This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

A decade ago, WGN News met a 6-year-old piano prodigy from Rockford, Ill., who admired Mozart and had dreams of becoming a classical composer and film scorer like John Williams. WGN's original story on Emily Bear in 2008, now has more than 32 million hits on YouTube.

Emily is now 16 and has composed and performed everything from symphonies, to film scores to jazz albums. But, as WGN's Steve Sanders reports, Emily is taking a stab at a crossover career that even she could not have imagined.

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This past weekend, Emily was one of eight distinguished Illinois residents who received the Order of Lincoln Award. It's the state's highest honor for professional achievement and public service. And Emily is the youngest person ever in 54 years to win this award.

Others honored include YouTube co-founder Steven Chen, Father Michael J. Garanzini, President of Loyola University Chicago, and football great Dick Butkus. Emily premiered a new orchestral piece that she performed with the Rockford Symphony. You can read more about it here.

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Chicago Performance

You can see Emily on the 4th of July in Chicago where she'll be performing "Rhapsody in Blue" with the Grant Park Orchestra. The concert starts at 6:30 at the Pritzker Pavilion of Millennium Park.

Previous Stories

Reporter Steve Sanders, Producer Pam Grimes, and Photojournalist Mike D'Angelo have been covering Emily Bear for a decade. Click the links below to the original story that caught the eye of Quincy Jones. We've also included a link to our half hour special in 2013, "Girl with a Gift" which won a Chicago / Midwest Emmy award.

Original WGN-TV Cover Story in 2008:

"Girl with a Gift" half hour special on WGN-TV / Emmy Award winner

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Emily Bear goes from piano prodigy to pop singer

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16 year old Emily Bear from Rockford has a brand new adventure, songwriting and singing pop songs with a top L.A. producer. WGN-TV's Steve Sanders, Producer Pam Grimes, and Photojournalist Mike D'Angelo have been following her career for a decade. And recently traveled to Los Angeles for a behind the scenes look inside a recording session.

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The June 2019 New York Times article presents fifteen year old musical prodigy Alma Deutscher as very innocent, childlike and unspoiled. She is pictured in the article playing on the trampoline and climbing trees with her little sister.
While jumping on the trampoline, Deutscher waves a sparkly purple jump rope that she says still helps her get in the right frame of mind to compose music. Her brilliance inspires others to call her “the next Mozart” but the young composer has responded that she does not wish to be another Mozart; she only wants to be “Alma.”
The Deutscher sisters are dressed very similarly, despite their age difference. Even though she is in her mid-teens, Deutscher is dressed more like an elementary student, wears no obvious makeup, and wears her hair in long braids. Although she may be expressing her true preferences, her appearance reinforces the fact that she became famous as a child prodigy. Although she wears elegant clothing for her performances, she still appears childlike and natural.
Emphasis is always placed on how young she was when her talents were first noticed. Her interviews seem to always center on how she began composing at age three; how she was so eager to learn how to write her music that she scribbled it illegibly, at age four; how her earliest music teachers were exhausted after her lessons.
The public has the opportunity to be further captivated through the retelling of Dutscher’s childhood accomplishments and the childlike manner in which she still presents herself. The combination makes one feel like perhaps they are still part of that discovery, like they haven’t missed seeing her at a remarkable age for her ability. This motivates fans to want to see her in person, buy her recordings, and share in the excitement surrounding her talent.
There are also some dramatic elements to her story that make her the heroine in winning against the music establishment. Although she was technically mature in her compositions at an early age, it was hard to get publishers to take her seriously once they learned how young she was. However, her status has grown so that even the earliest of her musical compositions are now being published.
So far, there is nothing Deutcher has done to disappoint her public, yet some in the musical art world criticize her. She has a very positive image and only wants to create beautiful, melodic art. However, some critics say that she can not be considered truly mature as an artist unless she follows the trend of creating ugly music for an ugly world.
Deutcher  has responded that she wants to create beautiful music, and if she saw the world as ugly, then she would want to help it by creating beautiful music.
An example of her composition, “Siren Sounds Waltz” is a very moving and emotional piece about her experience moving to the big city of Vienna and learning to live with the street noises for the first time. The city sounds of traffic and sirens which were amazingly orchestrated and combined into something beautiful and emotionally moving. She is still growing in her artistry and there is much to look forward to.
With the rise of social media, it is possible to immediately reach millions of people all over the world with your message and images and create a market for your music or product.
Anyone can be good at their art, but they often have to have a reason to get noticed and oftentimes that reason is gimmick. Especially in the age where social media makes it possible for anyone to try and get noticed.
It is more important to have a reason for people to be interested in you, in particular something that makes you unique because there are so many people trying to become famous.
For example, the critics of Alma Deutscher want her to conform to their musical preferences rather than express her own. They are critical that Deutscher does not follow the trend of other contemporary music artists, viewing the world as “ugly,” and composing harsh, ugly music to match it.
But Deutscher has maintained that she wants to create only beautiful melodies. She enjoys composing her music outdoors, taking inspiration from beautiful natural settings or the exciting bustle of the city. She argues, “If I did happen to see the world as ugly and brutal, then I would still want to write beautiful melodies to try and improve it.”
Many other child celebrities have struggled with being taken seriously in a grown-up’s world, and feel compelled or forced by others to dress or behave in a way that minimizes their true selves in an attempt to maintain relevancy to an older audience.
But Deutscher’s artistic credibility was built on the brilliance and beauty of her compositions, and is sustained by the same, without a reliance on gimmicks or a carefully styled persona. Despite her initial popularity relying on the remarkability of her young age, Deutscher has truly earned her success, and manages her ongoing career in the adult-dominated world of professional music while still refusing to compromise on her playfulness, her childlike wonder, or the love for the world that first inspired her music. - Sarah Shiver

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0xMpLXQNvM

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The Saturday Profile

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Alma Deutscher, right, clutching the rope she said helps her in composing, takes a break from music to jump with her sister Helen, 11, on a trampoline in their garden in Vienna. Credit Credit Lena Mucha for The New York Times

VIENNA - Alma Deutscher has not yet become a household name, but it seems only a matter of time.

An accomplished pianist and violinist, she is also a composer, having written concertos for piano and violin and an opera. In December, she will make her debut at Carnegie Hall, where she will play the solo violin and piano in her two concertos, while the orchestra will play selections from her opera and her most recent work, a Viennese waltz. Next month, she will record a retrospective album with Sony of piano melodies she composed going back to when she was just 4 years old.

Which, as a matter of fact, isn't all that long ago, because Alma Deutscher, who has been called by some "a new Mozart," is 14.

Sitting on a sofa in the living room of her family's home in Vienna, dominated by a baby grand piano, Ms. Deutscher subtly, but clearly, rolls her eyes at the mention of Mozart, a comparison she rejects. She may be one of the most gifted musical talents of her generation, lauded by Zubin Mehta and Simon Rattle, but she is also a teenager testing the bounds of her freedom and pushing back against expectations.

In Ms. Deutscher's case, that means defying her critics and the commentary that rages in online debates over her insistence that " music should be beautiful."

"Lots of people have been telling me that if I want to grow up, I have to compose music that will reflect the ugliness of the modern world," she said. "I don't want to do this. I want to compose music that I find beautiful."

The latest result is a modern interpretation of a Viennese waltz that begins with the sounds of the bustling, honking chaos of a busy city street and gradually spins them out into a romantic waltz that ends with a playful melody based on the wail of a Viennese police siren. The full orchestral premiere last month brought the audience in Sonderborg, Denmark, to its feet.

Johann Wildner, who conducted the performance, praised her creativity and harmonic imagination, cautioning against celebrating her simply because of her age.

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Ms. Deutscher will record a retrospective album with Sony of piano melodies she composed going back to when she was just 4 years old. Credit Lena Mucha for The New York Times

"She is not good because she is young," Mr. Wildner said. "She is good because she is extremely talented and has matured very early."

Born in 2005, Ms. Deutscher spent her first five years in Oxford, England, where her mother was teaching. While her parents were academics, they also loved music and would play together as a family, with her mother, Janie, on the piano and her father, Guy, on the flute. But Ms. Deutscher's ability rapidly surpassed that of her parents.

She received her first violin at age 3, and left her first teacher on the instrument begging to take a break after more than an hour. At 4 she would sit for hours at the piano, working out melodies she said were songs from the imaginary world she called Transylvanian. Recognizing his daughter's extraordinary abilities, Mr. Deutscher tried to find a teacher willing to work with a preschool composer, but most turned him down. "They would say to call back in 10 years - that was those who were being polite," he said.

As Alma's renown spread, the Deutschers gave up their teaching jobs and moved to Dorking, in Surrey, and devoted themselves to managing her schedule. These days, Mr. Deutscher said, there are so many people who want to work with his daughter that he spends a lot of his time fending them off. Having realized that no school would be able to meet Alma's special needs as a budding musician and composer, her mother began home schooling her and her sister Helen, now 11. Mr. Deutscher has managed to keep one foot in the academic world, writing books on his specialty, linguistics.

They are selective with her performance schedule, which last year included concerts in China, Germany and Switzerland, as well as several in Austria, where Ms. Deutscher has been embraced and celebrated for years. After spending months in 2016 in Vienna for rehearsals of her opera, "Cinderella," the family decided last year to move, so the girls could learn German and Alma could indulge in the wide range of musical opportunities the city offered.

"I lived in England, but I grew up on the music of Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven and Haydn," she said. "Musically speaking, I think that Vienna's always been my home."

Moving to a European capital has also offered both Alma and Helen freedom to move around on their own, riding the subway to the opera house or to the vineyards at the city limits. There, beyond the paths Beethoven roamed, Ms. Deutscher takes long walks, accompanied by her family and the pink, sparkly tasseled jump rope that she has carried with her since she was a child.

"When I was younger, I really thought it was the rope that gave me inspiration," she said, with a sly smile at her former self. Although she still wears dresses, jumps on the trampoline and climbs trees, the little girl who charmed a TV audience as an 8-year-old on " The Ellen DeGeneres Show " has been replaced by a tall young woman.

"Now, I know it's not really the rope," she said. "It's the state of mind that I get into when I wave it around."

Ms. Deutscher and her sister often visit vineyards on the outskirts of Vienna. "Musically speaking, I think that Vienna's always been my home," she said. Credit Lena Mucha for The New York Times

When chatting about her friends and books, she bubbles with enthusiasm and wide-eyed curiosity. But when the topic switches to music, she flicks her long blond hair over her shoulders and becomes focused and intense, speaking of musical techniques and tonality with an ease and understanding far beyond her years.

Recently, she has struggled with the plot for an opera that was commissioned by the Salzburg State Theater. Much of the music is in her head, she said, but unlike "Cinderella," which she wrote at 10 - it debuted in Vienna in December 2016 and played to a sold-out house at the Opera San Jose in California the following year - finding a story line this time has required more effort.

"With 'Cinderella,' it was easy, it was my favorite story as a little girl," she said. Although she is a voracious reader, "I don't have a favorite story any more," she said.

In addition to her home schooling, Ms. Deutscher takes classes in ballroom dance and theater. Singing in two different choirs has helped her with her German and provided a circle of friends, whom she meets at cafes for a slice of Sacher torte or an apricot palatschinke, a Viennese crepe.

"I would love to go and dance in the balls in Vienna," she said. "And maybe dance to my own waltz."

Although she has a website, an active Facebook page and 86,000 subscribers to her YouTube channel, which her father credits with helping build her popularity, Ms. Deutscher says she has little interest in social media.

She does not even own a cellphone. If her friends want to get in touch, or she needs to record a melody when it springs into her head, she relies on her parents' phones. She has just recently begun composing on a computer, rather than paper, but she still carries a notebook to jot down melodies and ideas.

In the future, she says she would like to compose a symphonic poem, a full symphony and, someday, a musical. More immediately, she is looking forward to her performance at Carnegie Hall, where she will be among the youngest composers to perform their own works there, officials there said.

But while the world focuses on her achievements, Ms. Deutscher said she is grateful for the opportunity and adventure her life has offered her. A portrait of Mozart's sister, Maria Anna, or Nannerl, whose talents were lost in her brother's shadow and was eventually forced to abandon music to marry, hangs in the living room.

"I'm a very strong feminist and I'm really happy that I was born now, when girls are allowed to develop their talents," she said. "Because if I had been born beforehand, I probably wouldn't have been allowed to become a composer. I would have had to be a housekeeper."

A version of this article appears in print on , Section A, Page 8 of the New York edition with the headline: This 14-Year-Old Prodigy Doesn't Want to Be Called 'a New Mozart'. Order Reprints | Today's Paper | Subscribe

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A Musical Prodigy? Sure, but Don't Call Her 'a New Mozart'

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The Saturday Profile VIENNA - Alma Deutscher has not yet become a household name, but it seems only a matter of time. An accomplished pianist and violinist, she is also a composer, having written concertos for piano and violin and an opera.