List of child music prodigies - Musician

music.wikisort.org - Musician

A child prodigy is defined in psychology research literature as a person under the age of ten who produces meaningful output in some domain to the level of an adult expert performer.[1][2][3] This is a list of young children (under age 10) who displayed a talent in music deemed to make them competitive with skilled adult musicians. The list is sorted by genre and instrument.

Classical

Piano

Name	Born	Instrument	Debut[lower-alpha 1]	Notes
Charles-Valentin Alkan	1813	Piano, composition	5	Entered Paris Conservatoire at age 5, youngest ever admission.[4]
Martha Argerich	1941	Piano	4	Orchestral debut at age eight[5]
Kit Armstrong	1992	Piano	5	Concerto debut at eight; Morton Gould Young Composer Award for five consecutive years[6]
Claudio Arrau	1903	Piano	5	Could read notes before letters[7]
Daniel Barenboim	1942	Piano	7	[8]
Emily Bear	2001	Piano	5	Composed and released her first piano album at age five ^{[citation needed]}
Vincenzo Bellini	1801	Piano	5	Began studying music theory at two, the piano at three, and by the age of five could apparently play well
Lili Boulanger	1893	Piano, violin, cello, harp	6	Attended Louis Vierne's organ classes at the Paris Conservatoire at age six[9]
Frédéric Chopin	1810	Piano	7	Wrote his first composition, a polonaise, which is still studied and performed today.[10]
Georges Cziffra	1921	Piano	9	Entered the Franz Liszt Academy at age nine, after some four years performing in a traveling circus
Carl Filtsch	1830	Piano	6	Composed concerto at thirteen; died at age fourteen[11]
Josef Hofmann	1876	Piano	10	[12]
Evgeny Kissin	1971	Piano	10	Entered music school at age six[13]
Franz Liszt	1811	Piano	9	Performed first major concert at age eleven[14]
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart	1756	Piano, violin, composition	4	One of the most prolific composers of the Classical Era. Performed all over Europe with his father Leopold and sister Nannerl[15]
Sergei Prokofiev	1891	Piano	9	Composed an opera at age nine
Camille Saint-Saëns	1835	Piano	5	Gave his first public recital at age five

Strings

Joseph Joachim (1831–1907)
Jascha Heifetz (1901–1987)
Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999)
Ida Haendel (1928–2020)
Yo-Yo Ma (born 1955)

Composing

Name	Born	Talent	Debut[lower-alpha 1]	Notes
Nino Rota	1911	Composer	8	First piano composition at age eight; attended Milan Conservatory at age 9; first opera performed publicly at age eleven [16]
Samuel Barber	1910	Composer, conductor	7	Attempted an opera at age ten; attended the Curtis Institute of Music at age fourteen[17]
Frédéric Chopin	1810	Composer	7	Began concerts and polonaises at age seven; attained notability by age fifteen[18]
Alma Deutscher	2005	Composer, pianist, violinist	6	Composed first piano sonata at age six, first violin concerto at age nine, and first full-length opera, Cinderella, at age ten.[19]
Felix Mendelssohn	1809	Composer, conductor	9	[20]
Gian Carlo Menotti	1911	Composer	7	Composed first opera at age eleven[21]
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart	1756	Composer	4	His first compositions were Andante (K. 1a) and Allegro (K. 1b)[22]
Niccolò Paganini	1782	Composer, violinist	7	[23]

Notes

The age at which the musician had their first public performance.

References

"Child Prodigies". in: Feldman, David H.; Morelock, M. J. (2011). "Prodigies". In Runco, Mark A.; Pritzker, Steven R. (eds.). Encyclopedia of Creativity (2nd ed.). Academic Press. pp. 261–265. doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-375038-9.00182-5. ISBN 978-0-12-375038-9. For the purposes of this and future research, a prodigy was defined as a child younger than 10 years of age who has reached the level of a highly trained professional in a demanding area of endeavor.
Rose, Lacey (2 March 2007). "Whiz Kids". Forbes. Retrieved 3 April 2015. At the moment, the most widely accepted definition is a child, typically under the age of 10, who has mastered a challenging skill at the level of an adult professional.
Feldman, David Henry (Fall 1993). "Child prodigies: A distinctive form of giftedness". Gifted Child Quarterly. 27 (4): 188–193. doi:10.1177/001698629303700408. S2CID 144180264.
Conway, David (2012). Jewry in Music: Entry to the Profession from the Enlightenment to Richard Wagner. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-01538-8, pp. 222–224.
"Martha Argerich (Piano) – Short Biography". www.bach-cantatas.com. Retrieved 2020-09-25.
"Kit Armstrong". Freewebs.com. Archived from the original on 2010-11-21. Retrieved 2010-09-20.
"Claudio Arrau Biography". Princeton.edu. Retrieved 2010-09-20.
"Four – Audio Interviews – Daniel Barenboim". BBC. Retrieved 2010-09-20.
"Radio 3 – Composer of the Week – 1. Early promise". BBC. Retrieved 2010-09-20.
Jachimecki, p. 420.
Jeffrey Biegel Performer Blog (2006-01-10). "Jeffrey Biegel". Sequenza21.com. Retrieved 2010-09-20.
"PMC ESSAYS: Zakrzewska – Pianists 100 Years Ago (2)". Usc.edu. 2000-08-08. Archived from the original on 2010-02-26. Retrieved 2010-09-20.
"Music – Artists". BBC. Archived from the original on 2006-08-22. Retrieved 2010-09-20.
"The Musical Times: Franz Liszt 1811-1886". Archived from the original on 2006-09-29. Retrieved 2006-02-04.
"Mozart's Vienna". Luxurytraveler.com. Retrieved 2010-09-20.
"Nino Rota, Un timido protagonista del Novecento musicale". EDT.it. Retrieved 2022-04-14., pp. 179-180.
"Samuel Barber". Schirmer.com. Retrieved 2010-09-20.
"Fryderyk Chopin: Poet of the Piano". 2008-02-09. Archived from the original on 2008-02-09. Retrieved 2010-09-20.
Eddy, Melissa (June 14, 2019). "A Musical Prodigy? Sure, but Don't Call Her 'a New Mozart'". The New York Times. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
"Felix Mendelssohn Bio". Archived from the original on January 10, 2006. Retrieved February 4, 2006.
"Gian Carlo Menotti". Schirmer.com. 1911-07-07. Retrieved 2010-09-20.
Cliff Eisen, Stanley Sadie, '(Johann Chrysostom) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart', Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed May 9, 2006)
"Legendary Violinists. Niccolo Paganini". Thirteen.org. Retrieved 2010-09-20.