Nine-year-old Andrew Willicott, also known as ‘Minor Mozart’ started playing the piano at the age of five on a keyboard at home as he closely watched his father, Gary, YouTube the first few lines of “Oh When The Saints Go Marching In”.
“I played it with one finger, the way I knew from my childhood. Andrew watched me, studying my fingers, and within a couple of attempts had managed to play it through,” said Gary. “The next day, Andrew walked up to the keyboard, turned it on, and played the song to perfection on his first attempt, from memory.”
“In that moment I realised he may have a gift. I showed him another song and he played both from memory the following day,” Gary adds.
Andrew’s dyslexia has made it harder for him to learn to read music and hold the required attention span, but his parents believe that it is a large part of the reason for his gift.
As a two-year-old, he lined his cars up according to their colours, and Gary believes this affinity for patterns has made it easy for his son to see and repeat them. “This is why he can now play his repertoire from memory.”
Today, Andrew can read sheet music and his repertoire includes Nkosi Sikelel’iAfrika, Richard Clayderman’s Ballade pour Adeline as well as gospel music.
Shoppers at Cape Town’s Table Bay Mall might have seen Andrew sitting at the piano in one of the forecourts, the mask covering his small face as he coaxes the tunes from his instrument. He also had an opportunity to play earlier this year at a Rocco de Villiers concert.
“Every parent believes their child to be gifted and we wondered if we were just being biased, but our suspicions were confirmed when we took him to a piano teacher, and after a couple of lessons he had progressed much faster than the average student,” said mom Helena.
“I want to bring healing to people through my music,” said Andrew, who practices for at least an hour each day. Indeed, his parents report that on several occasions, spectators at the mall have become overwhelmed with emotion while listening to this musical genius play.
“I dream about doing a world tour by the age of 12. I play for the love of it, and to share this love with others,” Andrew said.
Watch the magic unravel over here:
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Find Andrew on Instagram @minormozart to watch more videos of the mini musical genius!
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Picture: Supplied