Child Prodigy Composer Wows Vienna

11-year-old British composer Alma Deutscher enthralled a Vienna audience at the premier of her opera Cinderella.

The sold-out performance at Vienna’s Casino Baumgarten Theatre, received a 10-minute standing ovation. And is scheduled for two more performances on January 4th and 5th.

And we’re not talking here of a mini kid-friendly opera. Deutscher’s “re-imagined” Cinderella is two-and-a-half hours long, with a musical score of 237 pages.

What inspires this sensationally talented musician?

Skipping

As she told the BBC’s Radio 4 Today programme, “quite a few of my melodies and themes for this opera came while I was skipping.” And she notes, “I take my skipping rope to the rehearsals and skip with it in the breaks.”

She explains that by running around twirling the “magic” skipping rope handles, melodies and musical scores often take rudimentary shape in her head. Or they come in her dreams . .

When asked about her creativity in general, Deutscher said: “I don’t go to school, I learn at home, I’m home-schooled. I read lots of books, I love reading… I read biographies about scientists and composers.”

Fame

At age 8 Deutscher appeared (and performed) on the Ellen DeGeneres show. Enchanting the audience with her quintessential English charm and spirit . .

Her next project?

She’d like to complete a piano concerto. Then she plans on writing a book which she envisions will be made into a movie – complete with a score composed by none other than herself!

Angelic Inspiration

As I watched the BBC and YouTube videos of Alma Deutscher, and learned of how this prodigiously talented composer thrives on fresh air, playing in her tree house and wandering in the woods, and draws inspiration from her “magic” skipping rope and dreams, I couldn’t help wondering . .

What breathtakingly beautiful talent and wisdom lie deep within the spiritual consciousness of every child . . and if protected from the over-stimulation of pixelated devices, overwrought careerist parenting, and the rigorous testing of the public school system, what magical, mystical marvels might unfold in our midst . . 

Just saying.