List of music prodigies

This is a list of music prodigies, young children (at or under age 18) who displayed a talent in music deemed to make them competitive with skilled adult musicians. The list is sorted by genre and instrument.

Classical

Opera

Name	Debut	Notes
Jackie Evancho	8	2nd place on America's Got Talent and platinum debut album at age 10
Beverly Sills	12	Won on Major Bowes' Amateur Hour for the week of October 26, 1939, performed Gilbert and Sullivan by 16
Faryl Smith	12	Was a semi-finalist on Britain's Got Talent at age 12
Charlotte Church	11	She sang on the Big Big Talent Show at age 11

Piano and organ

Name	Instrument(s)	Debut	Notes
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart	Piano, violin	6	One of the most prolific composers of the Classical Era
Thomas Linley the Younger	Piano, violin	7 (earliest recorded performance)	Born the same year as Mozart; the two met in Italy and became friends
Charles-Valentin Alkan	Piano	6	At the age of seven, he won a first prize for solfège and prizes in piano, harmony, and organ; Luigi Cherubini, director of the Conservatoire, described his technique and ability as extraordinary
Martha Argerich	Piano	4	Orchestral debut at age eight
Kit Armstrong	Piano	5	Concerto debut at eight; Morton Gould Young Composer Award for five consecutive years
Claudio Arrau	Piano	5	Could read notes before letters
Daniel Barenboim	Piano	7
Enrique Batiz	Piano	5	Now a conductor
Emily Bear	Piano	5	Child prodigy who composed and released her first piano album at age five.
Vincenzo Bellini	Piano	5	Began studying music theory at two, the piano at three, and by the age of five could apparently play well
Georges Bizet	Piano	9	Entered the Paris Conservatory at age nine
Victor Borge	Piano	8	Won a full scholarship to the Royal Danish Music Conservatory at age nine
Lili Boulanger	Piano, violin, cello, harp		Attended Louis Vierne's organ classes at the Paris Conservatoire at age six
Cameron Carpenter	Organ	11	Performed J. S. Bach's complete The Well-Tempered Clavier from memory at age eleven.
William Crotch	Organ	3	Became a composer and first Principal of the Royal Academy of Music
Georges Cziffra	Piano		Entered the Franz Liszt Academy at age nine, after some four years performing in a traveling circus
Per Enflo	Piano	7	Won the Swedish competition for young pianists at age eleven in 1956 (and again in 1961)
Richard Farrell	Piano	4	Made his first radio broadcast at age four; at seven played his own composition (a lament on the death of an archbishop) in a public concert with the Wellington Symphony Orchestra
Carl Filtsch	Piano	6	Composed concerto at thirteen; died at age fourteen
Horacio Gutiérrez	Piano	11	First piano recital at age four. Orchestral debut at age 11 with the Havana Symphony.
Johana Harris	Piano	8	Composed works as early as age six and began her career as a concert pianist at age eight [14]
Felix Hell	Organ	8	Became a church organist at age eight; won competitions at age nine; began recording and touring shortly thereafter
Josef Hofmann	Piano	10
Helen Huang	Piano	8	Performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra at age eight
Evgeny Kissin	Piano	10	Entered music school at age six
Aimi Kobayashi	Piano	3	Performed concerts at age three and with orchestras at age seven, performed at Carnegie Hall, etc.
Lang Lang	Piano		Began playing at age two; entered Beijing Conservatory at age eight; won international competitions at age thirteen
Ingmar Lazar	Piano	6	Solo debut at age six at the Salle Gaveau in Paris
Franz Liszt	Piano	9	Performed first major concert at age eleven
Leo Ornstein	Piano		Entered Saint Petersburg Conservatory at age ten
Sergei Prokofiev	Piano		Composed an opera at age nine
Camille Saint-Saëns	Piano	5	Gave his first public recital at age five
Ernest Schelling	Piano	4	Began studies in Europe at age seven
Philippa Schuyler	Piano	11
Dimitris Sgouros	Piano	7	First public recital at age seven; Carnegie Hall debut at age twelve with Rachmaninoff's Third Piano Concerto
Ruth Slenczynska	Piano	11	Played with a full orchestra at age eleven; writer of Forbidden Childhood
Alicia Witt	Piano	7	Won several piano competitions in the years after her debut Aside from being a music prodigy, "Alicia, possibly started reading at the age of six-and-a-half, seven months". At two years, she was reading college text books.
Yuja Wang	Piano	7	Performed in several piano competitions and concerts before moving to Canada at age eleven to study at Mount Royal College.
Noah Grey-Cabey	Piano	4	Youngest Person to perform solo in Sydney Opera House

Strings

Name	Instrument(s)	Debut	Notes
Linda Brava	Violin	11	Worldwide tours at age eight, leader of the prestigious Helsinki Juniorstrings at thirteen
Guila Bustabo	Violin	9	Performed with the Chicago Symphony at age 9; made Carnegie Hall debut at age 15
Akim Camara	Violin	3	Performed "Schneefloeckchen, Weissbroeckchen" with the Marzahn Hellersdorf School of Music at age 2; with Andre Rieu at the Waldbuehne at age 3; with Andre Rieu at Radio City Music Hall at age 5; with Wolfgang Fischer at age 6 & Richard Clayderman at age 7 (2009).
Sarah Chang	Violin	5	Started performing at age 5, auditioned for the Juilliard School at age 6 and professional debut came when she performed Paganini's Violin Concerto No. 1 with the New York Philharmonic at age 8. Recorded her first studio album called "Debut" at age 9. Has performed with most major international orchestras by age 11.
Jacqueline du Pré	Cello	8
Midori Goto	Violin	11
Ryu Goto	Violin	7
Ida Haendel	Violin		Prizewinner in Henryk Wieniawski International Violin Competition at age six
Jascha Heifetz	Violin	7
Mayuko Kamio	Violin	10
Koh Gabriel Kameda	Violin	9	Orchestral debut at thirteen performed the violin concerto No. 5 by Henri Vieuxtemps with the Baden-Baden Philharmonic Orchestra
Rachel Lee	Violin	8	She has studied at the Juilliard School since age 8
Yo-Yo Ma	Cello	5	Performed for audiences at 5; performed for John F. Kennedy at 7; appeared on TV at 8
Yehudi Menuhin	Violin	7
Anne Akiko Meyers	Violin	7
Stefan Milenković	Violin	10	First international award at age seven
Alma Moodie	Violin	6	Entered Brussels Conservatory at age 9; premiered concertos by Kurt Atterberg, Hans Pfitzner and Ernst Krenek
Anne-Sophie Mutter	Violin	9
David Oistrakh	Violin	6
Gregor Piatigorsky	Cello		Entered the Moscow Conservatory at age eleven; headed a quartet at age fifteen
Michael Rabin	Violin	10	Could "keep beat" at age one Carnegie Hall debut age 13
Florizel von Reuter	Violin	10	Graduated from Geneva Conservatory at age 11, 1901
Ruggiero Ricci	Violin	10	Began international tours at age fourteen
Clara Rockmore	Violin, theremin	9	Entered the Imperial Conservatory at age five, the youngest ever student
Henriett Seth F.	Contrabass	10	Gave up creative music career altogether at age 13
Leo Smith	Cello	8	[15]
Frank Peter Zimmermann	Violin	10

Winds

Name	Instrument(s)	Debut	Notes
Raphael Severe	Clarinet	11	Played Mozart clarinet concerto in China only three years after starting to learn the clarinet.[16]
Julian Bliss	Clarinet	4	Began playing the clarinet at the age of 4. Currently a virtuoso touring musician. Has played for British royalty.]

Composing and conducting

Name	Talent	Debut	Notes
Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga (1806–1826)	Composer	11	Composed a two-act opera at age thirteen
Samuel Barber (1910–1981)	Composer, conductor	7	Attempted an opera at age ten; attended the Curtis Institute of Music at age fourteen
Georges Bizet (1838–1875)	Composer		Entered the Paris Conservatoire at age ten
Frédéric Chopin	Composer	7	Began concerts and polonaises at age seven; attained notability by age fifteen
Ruth Gipps	Composer	8
Morton Gould	Composer, conductor	6
Jay Greenberg (born 1991)	Composer	12	Entered Juilliard School at age ten; composed five symphonies by age twelve
Erich Wolfgang Korngold	Composer, conductor	11
Rued Langgaard	Composer, organist	11	Composed his first symphony (60 minutes duration) at the age of 14
Lorin Maazel (born 1930)	Conductor	7
Felix Mendelssohn	Composer, conductor	12
Gian Carlo Menotti	Composer	7	Composed first opera at age eleven
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart		5	His first compositions were Andante (K. 1a) and Allegro (K. 1b)
Olli Mustonen (born 1967)		?	Composed a Divertimento for piano and orchestra at the age of 12, and his piano concerto at the age of 14.
Niccolò Paganini	Composer, violinist	7
Alex Prior (born 1992)	Composer, conductor	8
Josef Rheinberger (1839–1901)	Composer	7	Entered the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München at age twelve
Nino Rota (1911–1979)	Composer	11	Composed an oratorio at the age of 10, conducting performances in Italy and Paris.
Julian Scriabin (1908–1919)	Composer	c. 9–11
Edgard Varèse	Composer, conductor	12	Composed first opera at age 12.

Non-classical genres

Bagpipes

• John Burgess began playing at the age of four before turning professional at the age of sixteen. He was known as the 'King Of The Highland Pipers'.

Country and bluegrass

• Billy Gilman: Had a hit single and a platinum album at age eleven; was nominated for a Grammy Award against adult competition at age twelve
• Hunter Hayes: a cajun accordionist that began his musical career at age four, making appearances at local performances and on national television.
• Alison Krauss: Won local competitions at age ten and was named the most promising Midwestern fiddler at age twelve
• Brenda Lee: Debuted at age ten
• Doug Sahm: Played with Hank Williams at age eleven; released an album by age fourteen; later helped form the rock band Sir Douglas Quintet and the Tejano music related Texas Tornados
• Ricky Skaggs: Mandolin virtuoso; performed with Flatt and Scruggs at age seven
• Chris Thile: Cofounded Nickel Creek at age eight
• Taylor Swift: started writing music by age 11 and started her album by age 15

Folk and world music

• Areti Ketime: Debuted at age six; performed at the 2004 Summer Olympics at age fourteen
• Adán Sánchez: Released first album at age eleven

Blues

• Joe Bonamassa: Became proficient at Guitar at age 11, opened for B.B. King at age 13.
• Kenny Wayne Shepherd: Began at age seven; performed onstage with professionals at age thirteen
• Quinn Sullivan: Began playing guitar at age 3; has performed onstage with B.B. King and Buddy Guy
• Derek Trucks: Began playing with The Allman Brothers Band at age 11

Jazz and jazz-fusion

• Shelly Berg: Entered the Cleveland Institute of Music at age six; was a professional musician at age thirteen
• Andy Bey: He played at clubs at 5, By age 12 he performed at the Apollo Theater with Louis Jordan and had his first recording.
• Bix Biederbecke: Self-taught piano and cornet player, learning the first at a particularly young age (playing with his hands overhead while standing). Article written about him in Davenport (Iowa) newspaper at age 7, and went on to great fame before dying probably of alcoholism at age 28.
• Francesco Cafiso: He worked with Franco D'Andrea at age 11 or 12.
• Terri Lyne Carrington: Awarded a full scholarship to Berklee College of Music at age eleven
• Dennis Chambers: began playing drums at age three, was professional at 9, was an 'in demand' drummer on the NYC music scene at the age of 14, and was a member of Parliament-Funkadelic at the age of 18.
• Cyrus Chestnut: Entered the Peabody Institute at age nine
• Cy Coleman: Played in Carnegie Hall at age seven
• Eldar Djangirov: "Discovered" at age nine; became the youngest musician to appear on Piano Jazz at age twelve; released his first CD at age fourteen
• Taylor Eigsti: Opened for David Benoit at age eight and played with Dave Brubeck at age twelve
• Herbie Hancock: Performed on piano with the Chicago symphony at age eleven; began playing jazz later in college
• Biréli Lagrène: Won a Gypsy music festival in Strasbourg at age eight and performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival at thirteen.
• Buddy Rich: Began playing drums at 18 months old; was a bandleader by age eleven
• Sugar Chile Robinson: A pianist in the jazz sub-genre of boogie-woogie, he had his first public performance at the age of 3; he retired from active performing at age 13.
• Hilton Ruiz: Performed at Carnegie Recital Hall at age eight; played in an accordion symphony at age nine
• Consuelo Velázquez: Began playing at age four; performed piano concerto at age six; wrote Bésame Mucho at age sixteen
• Mary Lou Williams: Taught herself piano before age five; played professionally by age thirteen
• Keith Jarrett: Pianist

Post-war genres

R&B, soul,hip-hop, and funk

• Michael Jackson: Joined his older siblings in the Jackson 5 at age five; his dancing, singing and performing abilities soon surpassed his older siblings; He had his first No.1 as a solo artist at age 13, and his first No.1 (as the lead singer of the Jackson 5) at age 11.
• Booker T. Jones: Keyboardist for Booker T and the M.G's was profecient at organ, piano, oboe, saxophone, and trombone by the age of 10. He began playing as a professional session musician at 16.
• Gladys Knight: Began performing at age four; won on the Original Amateur Hour at age seven; toured at age eight
• Stevie Wonder: Skilled at multiple instruments early; signed to Motown at age eleven; first U.S. number-one hit at age thirteen.
• Bernie Worrell: Originally classically trained; wrote a concerto at age eight.
• Victor Wooten: Bela Fleck's bassist, started playing funk-bass at 3.
• Richie Sambora: Bon Jovi guitarist began playing music at age 3, using various instruments throughout his childhood; he started playing guitar at 12.
• Sugar Chile Robinson: Won talent contests as singer and pianist from age 3, performed and recorded as a child with Lionel Hampton, Count Basie and others

Pop

• Dido: Entered the Guildhall School of Music and Drama at age six.
• Marvin Hamlisch: Became the youngest student ever accepted by the Juilliard School of Music at age seven.
• Cleopatra Stratan: Had a hit single at the age of 3; Youngest artist to win an MTV award

Alternative and rock

• Tori Amos: Attended the Peabody Institute at age five and was expelled from it at 11.
• Björk: Began classical study at age five; released an album at age eleven
• Alanis Morissette: Released her first song at age ten, which later became an unsuccessful single; became a protege of a local folk musician; had her own record and record producing company at an early age
• Wolfgang Van Halen: Son of Van Halen guitarist Eddie Van Halen, Wolfgang began playing on-stage with the band at age 13, and was a full member of Van Halen at age 15. He plays guitar, electric bass, drums, and keyboard.
• Steve Winwood: Played organ in the "The Ron Atkinson Band" at age eight; was backing blues legends by age thirteen on United Kingdom tours; became the keyboardist for The Spencer Davis Group at age fifteen
• Charly Garcia: Played piano at age of three, gifted. He has absolute pitch.
• Vangelis: Was composing at age of four.
• Jason Becker: Gifted electric guitarist afflicted with ALS
• Jordan Rudess: entered the Juilliard School of Music Pre-College Division for classical piano training at age nine. He currently plays keyboards, continuum, and synthesizers in the progressive metal band Dream Theater.
• Nathan Young: Joined the band Anberlin as a drummer at age 12.

Indian Artists

Indian-Classical Music

• Ustad Zakir Hussain: A tabla maestro who was touring by the age of twelve.
• Kumar Gandharva: Legendary vocalist enthralled audiences and senior artists alike in his tours at a young age of twelve.
• Chandrakant Sardeshmukh: A Sitar maestro who performed at the age of six and declared child prodigy by world famous Ravi Shankar.

See also

• List of child prodigies
• List of musicians

Further reading

• Musical Prodigies: Masters at an Early Age by Renee B. Fisher ISBN 0-8096-1854-0
• Musical Prodigies: Perilous Journeys, Remarkable Lives by Claude Kenneson ISBN 1-57467-046-8