‘I hated being called a prodigy’: Alma Deutscher, 18, composer and musician, on growing up and the future ahead of her Hong Kong debut
- She wrote a piano sonata aged six, a violin concerto aged nine and, aged 10, an opera, but British musician Alma Deutscher never saw herself as a wonderkid
- Ahead of a concert in Hong Kong where she will perform and conduct, the 18-year-old talks about being inspired by living in Vienna and what’s next
British-born composer, pianist and violinist Alma Deutscher became an international phenomenon after she appeared on an episode of 60 Minutes, aged 12, and wrote a piano sonata on the spot based on four random notes that presenter Scott Pelley picked out of a hat.
Conductor Zubin Mehta described her that same year, 2017, as “one of the greatest musical talents today”, after he found out that she started playing the piano when she was two and the violin when she was three, that she composed her first piano sonata aged six, and a concerto for violin and orchestra aged nine. At the age of 10, she wrote her first opera.
“I always hated being called [a child prodigy]. I always wanted to be taken seriously, so I never liked being called a wonderkid, new Mozart or a prodigy. I’m very happy that it is gradually stopping because I’m not a child any more,” the now 18-year-old musician tells the Post ahead of her Hong Kong debut.
Growing up, she was surrounded by music. Although her parents were not professional, they were passionate musicians – her father plays flute and her mother the piano.
Maybe the only time I was a bit nervous was before my concert at Carnegie Hall
Deutscher was home-schooled in England, which gave her a lot of freedom.
