The 13-year-old beat 28 contestants
to take home a prize of $1 million
As
his fingers flew over the keys, it became clear that Lydian Nadhaswaram, the
13-year-old child prodigy from Chennai, was the favourite to win ‘The World’s
Best’ talent contest, besting 28 contestants from across the world.
The
gruelling contest, hosted by the U.S network CBS, for performing talent
included martial arts acrobats and high-wire walkers, apart from musicians and
singers, with the finals aired on Thursday.
The
2019 contest saw Lydian competing against the American acapella group Naturally
7 and South Korean acrobats Kukkiwon in the finals to take home the title and
$1 million in prize money. The youngster, who has studied under Augustine Paul
of the Madras Musical Association and Surojeet Chatterji at A.R. Rahman’s KM
Music Conservatory, stunned the judges by playing 325 beats per minute. “This
is genuinely one of the best things I’ve ever seen live,” tweeted James Corden,
show host. Back home in Saligramam, the teenager told The Hindu that
he spends on an average of six hours a day practising music under the guidance
of his father Varshan Satish, a music director.
“I
listen to music on YouTube and spend time on music software. Along with my
sister, I experiment a lot and we compose our own music,” said Lydian. The
prodigy can play blindfolded and handle two pianos simultaneously, apart from
being adept at the guitar and mridangam, his mother Jhansi said with legitimate
pride.
Lydian
does not watch much television, but he is a regular on YouTube. “I recently
picked up a movie from YouTube, then muted the sound and created my own audio.
It was fun,” he said. His virtuosity has earned him an invite to perform at the
Jazz Foundation of America’s annual gala “A Great Night in Harlem” at the
Apollo Theatre in New York on April 4. Looking ahead, Lydian says he wants to
compose music for Hollywood. “I want to work for an animation film,” he said.
And as an afterthought, he says he also wants to play the piano on the moon at
some point.
Source: THE HINDU-15th March,2019
