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Alex hopes to study in St Petersburg |
Little Pavarotti Alex
INTERVIEW - With 13-YEAR-OLD PODIGY ALEX PRIOR
JUST occasionally you come across a character who possesses
musical talent in such abundance it is quite hard to comprehend.
One such incident occurred when I met Alex Prior earlier this
week, the 13-year-old singer, pianist and composer who has already
been dubbed the ‘little Pavarotti’ by critics.
Unusually he possesses a powerful tenor voice.
He has already completed his eight piano grades and is now working
towards his diploma, his own compositions have been performed
at St Martin-in-the-Fields, he has released his own album –
Just a Boy – and performed in front of President Vladimir
Putin on live Russian television.
Sitting in the living room of the family’s St John’s
Wood flat, his mother, who hasn’t lost her Russian accent,
interjects, saying: “I didn’t want him to be a musician
but wanted him to try everything.”
As well as attending University College school, Hampstead, he
studied at the Royal College of music on a joint course for
pianist and singing from the age of nine.
Composing, however, has been a more organic development.
He says: “I started improvising on the piano, I never used
to write it down. I would play various styles but mainly romantic.”
Now he is set to travel to Russia for a two-week trial to see
if he would like to study at the St Petersburg Conservatoire.
He says: “I showed them my pieces and they liked them and
invited me to study there.
“They said that Prokofiev started when he was 14, I can
start when I am 13.”
He adds: “I am going there for two weeks to see if it for
me.”
His composition output is huge having already completed more
than 100 pieces including songs for children, at least one symphony
and is currently working on a ballet for children.
He says: “It’s not very long, about an hour and 20
minutes.”
In his small bedroom he plays a recording of his works and an
excerpt from his work in progress the ballet Sir Gawain and
the Green Knight.
The pieces are stunning, ambitious and the stark melodies are
infused with Russian folk influence.
One of his next performances in the UK is at the Royal Albert
Hall on April 15, where he will be appearing alongside Russell
Watson, Amici, G4, Julian Lloyd-Webber and the Royal Philharmonic
Orchestra.
See www.alexprior.co.uk
for more information. |
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