Friday, December 26, 2008
The New Children--Ethan Bortnick
In recent years, we have heard a great deal about the "New Children," sometimes called the "Indigo Children" or the "Crystal Children." (They are not called indigo because of their coloring, but because the woman who coined the term set up a color chart with different colors representing children with different abilities--the indigos were those with very special talents to offer to the world. The crystal children are, supposedly, even gifted beyond the indigos.)
In any event, the child presented in these videos is clearly a prodigy, reminescent of Mozart, who began to play concerts as a very young child and revealed his genius fully as he grew up.
Ethan Bortnick's mother discovered his unusual talents when she heard someone playing Mozart in the next room and looked in and discovered it was Ethan. Ethan does not know how he plays the piano as he does. He says he simply listens and then quickly plays the music back. Anyone who has struggled through elementary piano lessons knows how difficult many of these pieces are for most of us--some are, in fact, well beyond the average student. Eric's teacher says that he picks up in an hour of instruction what would take others days or even weeks to grasp. I find it especially interesting that he plays both classical and modern jazz, each with understanding and fine interpretation. He also composes. If, as some believe, such prodigies are in fact reincarnations of previous beings, then Eric seems to be a combination of Mozart and Louis Armstrong come back to earth (with a bit of Scott Joplin thrown in.)
Whatever the reason is, some very unusual children are in fact coming in now. Let us hope they will indeed be our saving grace. Once again, we are reminded that "Anything is possible."
Here are the links to Ethan's sites: (And others are listed on youtube as well)
Concert
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frbVtbCK2XU
Backgound
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8olszb2cJn4&feature=relatedNPRinterview
NPR Interview
http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=98482724&m=98558172
Jay Leno
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_YJNpmAVdc
In any event, the child presented in these videos is clearly a prodigy, reminescent of Mozart, who began to play concerts as a very young child and revealed his genius fully as he grew up.
Ethan Bortnick's mother discovered his unusual talents when she heard someone playing Mozart in the next room and looked in and discovered it was Ethan. Ethan does not know how he plays the piano as he does. He says he simply listens and then quickly plays the music back. Anyone who has struggled through elementary piano lessons knows how difficult many of these pieces are for most of us--some are, in fact, well beyond the average student. Eric's teacher says that he picks up in an hour of instruction what would take others days or even weeks to grasp. I find it especially interesting that he plays both classical and modern jazz, each with understanding and fine interpretation. He also composes. If, as some believe, such prodigies are in fact reincarnations of previous beings, then Eric seems to be a combination of Mozart and Louis Armstrong come back to earth (with a bit of Scott Joplin thrown in.)
Whatever the reason is, some very unusual children are in fact coming in now. Let us hope they will indeed be our saving grace. Once again, we are reminded that "Anything is possible."
Here are the links to Ethan's sites: (And others are listed on youtube as well)
Concert
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frbVtbCK2XU
Backgound
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8olszb2cJn4&feature=relatedNPRinterview
NPR Interview
http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=98482724&m=98558172
Jay Leno
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_YJNpmAVdc
