The Violin Prodigy Child of Our Time May 11 2021
One of the most common criteria for identifying a child prodigy is someone who, by roughly ten years, shows an unusual grasp or proficiency in fundamentals in an area mostly undertaken by adults. Violin child prodigy is the most vaunted child prodigies. Are these children born with these special talents, or are they made?
This is a common question, but there is no definite answer. Some kids are born with special talents, and with the right training, they incredibly play the violin. Others —virtuosos— are made through a series of training and practice. The age at which a child begins to play or compose music has inched lower with time.
Famous and exceptional childhood prodigies have been inspirational to many parents, who are silent partners and their children managers. Yehudi Menuhin, Isaac Stern, Sarah Chang, Mischa Elman, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, to mention but a few, are great inspirations.
There are many violin prodigy children, but only a few have successfully climbed the violin ladder. In this article, you will learn about the famous violin child prodigies of our time.
11 of the Most Promising Young Violin Prodigies 2021
ALMA DEUTSCHER
Alma Deutscher is a composer, violinist, and pianist. This
British girl described by many as "Little Miss Mozart" is not an average 16-year-old child. Born in 2005, Alma Deutscher started playing piano at two and violin at three years. Deutscher's precocious talent is evident in her charming melodies and her compositions. At six years, she composed her first piano sonata. This was followed by a concerto for violin and orchestra at nine years and later a piano concerto.
Deutscher is one of the impeccable musical talents today. Her famous opera, Cinderella, has been performed on three continents, leaving the audience mesmerized and cheering. Many critics who expect music to show the bad side of the world may not admire Alma compositions. However, her massive audiences like her compositions which speaks directly to their heart. Deutscher was awarded the European Culture Prize in Vienna State Opera. Also, she received Young Artist Award in Beijing, and in 2019 she was chosen as one of Stern's twelve "heroes of Tomorrow." Deutscher was the youngest of the twelve to be chosen at 14, with others ranging between 27-43 years.
Thinking of all these talents sounds amazing, but here is one of Deutscher´s incredible performances.
HIMARI YOSHIMURA
Mastering the technical skills of classical music is almost the Herculean task but not for Himari Yoshimura. Born in 2011 in Tokyo, the now 10-year-old violin child prodigy began playing at four years. With confidence and charisma, she stormed the citadels of classical music, mastering the violin impeccably.
Himari Yoshimura has participated in all Japanese violin competitions of her age category and gone on to win the prestigious Arthur Grumiaux International Violin Competition in 2019, Belgium. She has also participated and won the 1st prize in 39 international and local competitions. Some of these include the Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education, Singapore International Music Competition in 2018, the 17th Osaka International Music Competition, the Violin Junior Category, the 10th International Youth Music Competition, and the Junior Category, 2017, among others.
Writing down the list of her awards is long, but for Himari Yoshimura, born in a family of musicians, it's an achievement with admiration. Yoshimura has seemingly overcome the technical challenges that hold back many trying to acquire such violin skills with her first prize at only seven years old.
SOHYUN KO
Winning awards in competitions is a milestone achievement, and when won at a young age, it's even exhilarating. This is the case for Korean violin prodigy child SoHyun Ko. Born 13th April 2006, this 15 years old violinist started studying the instrument at age four at the Korea National Institute for the Gifted in Arts.
SoHyun Ko gained widespread recognition as a violin prodigy, especially with the string of victories in different competitions. Some of the notable awards include the 40th Korean Violin Competition of the Hankook Ilbo in 2012, Mastmedia's 17th Korean Strad Concours in 2015, the Adelphi Orchestra Young Artist Competition in 2020, among others.
This graduate of the Heifetz International Music Institute's PEG (Program for the Exceptionally Gifted) has received enormous viewership for her YouTube videos like the TwoSet Violin released in March 2019. At the moment, the video has received over 4.8 million views.
SoHyun Ko is currently at the Manhattan School of Music studying under the legendary Pinchas Zukerman, acclaimed for a career spanning over five decades.
LEIA ZHU
Leia Zhu is not your ordinary violin prodigy child. Born October 2006, the 15 years old British-Chinese Violinist has an impressive track record of performance. She studies violin under Professor Itzhak Rashkovsky and also attends master classes with Professor Zakhar Bron.
At the age of 4, she made her solo debut, performing in front of thousands in the North East Last Night of the Proms in Newcastle City Hall.
When Leia turned 12, she had already performed in over 18 countries in the most prestigious halls. This made her the youngest artist to be managed by global agent Harrison Parrott. Her most notable key festival appearances are Lucerne Festival, Musical Olympus Festival, Moscow Meets Friends, Salzburg Festival, and others.
Leia's works with the world's finest orchestras and prestigious halls include Mariinsky Hall, The Royal Festival Hall London, Russian Orchestra, Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, Belgian National Orchestra, among others.
Epping Forest commissioned Leia to record Vivaldi's Summer movement II during the pandemic in 2020. She was also due to perform Beethoven Violin Concerto, but it was canceled after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, she performed live on YouTube for an online audience.
KAROLINA PROTSENKO
This 13-year-old violin prodigy child was born in Ukraine, but the family moved to the U.S in 2015 when she was 6. The same year they moved, she immediately started attending violin lessons and is now classically trained. Her premiere appearance was at Faerieworlds and in the Pacific Northwest.
Her dream of traveling the world with her concerts is almost a reality through her three YouTube channels. She may not be your regular award-winning violinist but currently commands a huge following in over 50 countries on her YouTube channels with over 5 million subscribers. Karolina's videos on YouTube and other media sites so far have a viewership of more than 500 million times.
She has been featured in the Ellen show and is active on Instagram and Facebook.
Her self-titled YouTube channel with an immense following features remarkable violin covers of popular songs. There is not much - if anything - in her playing to be impressed about if you know violin, but she is immensely popular and she has the showgirl personality, so we decided to include her here.
YOEUN SEOL
Hard work and determination can achieve anything at any age, just like nine years old Yoeun Seol. This exceptional violin prodigy child from South Korea started playing at the age of 2 and has progressed to master the instrument.
In December 2014, Yoeun Seol started her YouTube channel, and her videos have garnered 9 million views. Her channel keeps showing her emerging hidden talents and tricks like the sonatas and concertos. By the age of 7, Yoeun Seol led a full orchestra with her story brilliantly unveiled through her YouTube channel.
Yoeun Seol has done multiple stage shows where she played Paganini's Caprice no. 13, La Campanella, My Favorite Things, among others. The results of her hard work are shown by her set of skills on the violin.
She has shown that when young minds are tasked with learning such an instrument, the outcome is exhilarating. Here is one of Yoeun Seol´s videos from her YouTube channel.
SAMUEL TAN
This 15 years old from Singapore has graduated to more hallowed territory with his enviable ease and mastery of the violin. This violin prodigy child made waves after receiving a standing ovation and being awarded the Postacchini Prize at the 2014 Andrea Postacchini International Violin Competition in Italy.
This was not an ordinary win. Tan was the overall best violinist competing against people of up to 35 years. At the age of 9, he also won the first prize in the category of 8 to 11 years old and was awarded Francesco Piasentini violin, a cash prize, and a Walter Barbiero bow. Tan, a former Goh Soon Tioe Excellence Award laureate, got the distinction of representing his country at the Menuhin Competition held in England, asserting his place as a violin master.
He has admitted that the nature of the violin requires hours of commitment to daily sessions to perfect. With Singapore's academic rigor, this has been a delicate balance, but his awards and achievements have shown his continued excellence.
CHRISTIAN LI
Born 30th October 2007, Christian Li is known for being the youngest violin prodigy child to win the Yehudi Menuhin International Competition for Young Violinists, junior category. This 14 years old Chinese-Australian started playing at the age of 5 and currently studies at Scotch College, Melbourne.
Li won the Golden Beijing violin competition in 2014, the Young Artist Semper Music International Competition Italy 2015, and also won the Audience Prize and Composer Award in the junior category.
Li is not your regular performer. He was part of the Carnegie Hall of the American Protégé Showcase 10 Anniversary concert, 2016. At the Gower Festival, he has performed with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, the Cheltenham Music Festival, and the Harrogate International Festival.
Christian's overwhelming talent with the violin has seen him featured in TV commercials playing the instrument. His Vivaldi's Four Seasons videos have also attracted millions of views online, portraying his maturity and musical abilities.
CHLOE CHUA
There are so many child prodigies all over the world, and Chloe is among the best. Born in 2006 in Singapore, Chloe possesses unusual abilities that make her stand out. Apart from the "out of this world" performance, her naturalness, maturity, and composure on stage make her exceptional.
At only two and half years, she started learning the violin with the help of her mother, who is a music educator. Apart from performing in music festivals, masterclasses, and public concerts, Chloe has won various competitions. The most notable are the Menuhin Competition 2018. Chua also won the 24th Andrea Postacchini International Violin Competition in Category A.
Her list of awards and appearances like the Zhuhai International Mozart Competition, Singapore National Piano and Violin Competition, Junior division, Thailand International Strings Competition, among others, portrays her as playing the violin like an 1884 Vincenzo Postiglione or Florian Leonhard Fine Violins.
If you think her performance is based only on her musical talent, you are wrong. Chloe devotes countless hours practicing to achieve this kind of perfection in playing the violin. She is a violin prodigy child with remarkable dedication to the practice of between three to six hours daily. Her bubbly and busy life adds to the joy of this 13-year-old violinist.
TEO GERTLER
Teo is another violin prodigy child who has portrayed musical maturity. He started playing at the age of three and a half, and today he is a laureate of major international music competitions. The now 13-year-old violinist won the second prize in the 17th International Competition of Young Violinists in 2016. His major achievement was in the Grand Prix award at the XIV. In Honor of Karol Lipinski and Henry Wieniawski in Lublin, Poland.
In 2016 and 2018, Teo was awarded the Talented Youth by Bratislava mayor and the award of Old Town Talent by the Head of the Old Town. These achievements were possible even with his continued practice and learning of numerous masterclasses with Virtuosos, a world-renowned professor.
NATSUHO MURATA
Born in Japan in May 2007, Murata started studying the violin at age 3 and has won 1st prize in the International Nutcracker TV Competition for young musicians, as well as the 1st prize in the Piccolo Violino Magico International Competition. She has performed with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, and at Carnegie Hall, Sion Music Festival as well as at the opening ceremony of the "Moscow Meets Friends" International Festival. Murata performs in a Ferdinando Gagliano violin on special loan. Gagliano is one of the finest Italian violin makers from the 2nd half of the 18th Century.
CLOSING COMMENTS
There are others with good presence in YouTube, and
considered "violin prodigy children" by some, perhaps because they can play being so young. We could mention for example Akim Camara, Brianna Kahane and Caesar Sant (who has a sad story due to disease), but in our opinion they are not as nearly as good and sometimes even painful to listen.
We hope you enjoyed our article as much as we did preparing it.
And you know what? some of them already sign autographs!
SEE ALSO:
- Alma Deutscher signed photo
- Violinists & Cellists Autographs & Memorabilia
- Concert Programs Signed by Violinists and Cellists
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