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.

 

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

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. 

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

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

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. 

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.