16 May 2010
Dale Haslam
The Guide
Tuesday, 14 October 2008
ORGANISERS of a music talent show were so blown away by a young piano prodigy they recorded his recital for the nation.
Fast-fingered Yuanfan Yang, of Bland Road, Prestwich, stunned judges at a BBC Radio 3 open-mic day at the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester with his piano performance of Beethoven’s Sonata in C minor, despite being among the youngest people taking part - aged just 11.
Yuanfan, was born in Edinburgh and lived in Leeds where he went to primary school. He moved with his parents to Prestwich this summer and now studies at Cheetham’s School of Music in Manchester.
He took up the piano aged six and reached grade five in a year. Amazingly, he achieved grade eight, the top level when he was aged eight.
The rendition turned Yuanfan into an instant success - earning him a slot on a popular radio show and winning the plaudits of the movers and shakers within classical music.
Radio 3 north and east editor Edwina Wolstencroft said: “We were absolutely dumbfounded. Everyone just sat there in silence looking on amazed at his talent. For someone of such a young age to show such ability is startling.
“It is extremely rare for a child aged eight to reach their grade eight and it is a strong indication of just how astonishing this boy is. His hands move so fluently over the keys and his improvisation skills are really impressive.”
She added: “Of course, you wouldn’t want to put pressure on such young shoulders, but there is no doubt that he has a very bright future in music if he wants to pursue it. He could go very far indeed.”
Yuanfran played on October 5 in Radio 3’s Pianothon event, which invited amateur musicians to play anything they wanted on piano in a public performance to showcase the area’s emerging talent.
More than 50 people played and Yuanfran’s piece was one of a handful recorded and played on Radio 3’s popular Performance on Three show.
His dad, Dr Lan Yang, who is a linguistics lecturer at Leeds University, said: “Yuanfan has been often invited to give performances for charities and for neighbours on special occasions.
“We are now settled in Prestwich and are getting used to the new environment and Yuanfran feels very happy at Chetham’s. Both myself and his mother, Jieling Yu, are very proud of him.”
Source:
Haslam, Dale. 'Music prodigy hits just the right note'. The Guide. Tuesday, 14 October 2008. URL: http://www.prestwichandwhitefieldguide.co.uk/archive/2008/10/14/Prestwich+%26+Whitefield+News/3755346.Music_prodigy_hits_just_the_right_note. [Accessed on 28 April 2011]
>> My Webpage
...
No comments:
Post a Comment