A standing ovation in a packed Royal Festival Hall is a milestone in any musician’s career.
And that’s exactly what happened when 13-year-old blind and autistic Lucy gave an astonishing performance to win The Piano last night, Channel 4’s competition to find the UK’s best amateur pianist.
The young woman from West Yorkshire, who was born with cancerous tumors in her eyes and is largely speechless, left audiences stunned and many in tears with her impeccable rendition of Debussy’s Arabesque.
Classical pianist Lang Lang, one of the judges, called her a “genius”, while pop star Mika called hers the “performance of the night”.
The show, hosted by Claudia Winkleman, sought to find the best amateur pianists by inviting people to play pianos at train stations across the country.
Blind and autistic Lucy, 13, gave an amazing performance to win The Piano last night, Channel 4’s competition to find the UK’s best amateur pianist.
In the final episode, Lucy competed against Jay, who works on a construction site, Sean, who was diagnosed with neurodivergence at the age of four, and Danny, who used music as a way to cope with his father’s suicide. .
None of the four finalists owned a piano of their own, and the producers gave them one each after the final episode.
For Lucy, music has been more than just a hobby, it’s the way she communicates because she has a global developmental delay and has trouble holding a conversation.
She has a duplication of chromosome 16 that causes traits of autism, developmental delay, and intellectual disability.
His mother, Candice, said: “I always knew I would be on a big stage one night.
“I told the producers, ‘You’ve seen in my daughter what I’ve seen for years.'”
Lucy started playing the keyboard when she was just two years old and began taking piano lessons from her teacher Daniel when she was three through The Amber Trust music charity.
Her mother said: “We were at home and she had lots of musical toys to play with, but Lucy wasn’t just pushing buttons, she was making rhythm and music, and I thought that was interesting.”
Her mother, Candice, said, “I always knew I’d be on a big stage one night.”
His music teacher, Daniel, said, “I’ve never met anyone who has the same depth of understanding of music.” Music is the way she communicates’
“From a book of fairy tales with a piano, she started playing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, but it was perfect. It was a great moment to hear that.
The family then upgraded her keyboard and realized that she was composing music in her head while sitting on the couch. She was also able to play music after listening to it just once.
An emotional Candice was standing at the side of the stage when Lucy received her standing ovation at the London venue and peeked in to catch the reaction.
“I am beyond proud of my girl, beyond proud,” she said.
As Lucy walked offstage after the performance, she told her mother, “Give it up at Festival Hall,” to which Candice replied, “You got more than a big round of applause, darling.”
His music teacher, Daniel, said, “I’ve never met anyone who has the same depth of understanding of music.” Music is the way she communicates.’
Candice said she decided to enter Lucy for the competition because she wanted to show others how “amazing” she was and raise awareness about her condition.
He added that it had been a “once-in-a-lifetime experience that none of us will ever forget” that was “literally life-changing.”
Since recording the show, Lucy has been learning more and more pieces from artists like Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Duke Ellington, and Stevie Wonder.
