Lucy Illingworth - 13 years old, blind, neurodivergent. And a remarkable pianist.

Tomorrow is Saint Lucy's Day.  I was going to repost my 2010 report on The Eyes of Saint Lucy, but I'm going to substitute another Lucy, who showed up in my search of my bookmarks.  I'll let the embedded videos tell the story.  I think I have them in the proper chronological order: the first from the auditions for "The Piano" competition, the second from the actual competition finals, and the third a performance at the Royal Albert Hall.

What is most interesting to me is not that a blind person can perform music at a high level (think Ronnie Milsap, Doc Watson, Stevie Wonder, and others).  But in most cases those performers are composers who create their own music.  It's quite different to perform someone else's composition while blind (as one of the judges says when her performance begins "how does she study?")  I would think Lucy is probably a savant who is capable of hearing a composition and then reproducing it on a piano.  Although there is Braille music notation.

Addendum:  Found this video illustrating part of the instructional technique:

I'll add that IMHO "neurodivergent" is a very welcome addition to the English language, as a more accurate replacement for a wide variety of derogatory and disrespectful terms that preceded it.

Another addendum:  See this video of Lucy in a duet with another musical savant.

And here's Ashley's story.

And one more - a TEDx talk about Derek Paravicini: "Born prematurely at just 25 weeks, Derek Paravicini has suffered from blindness, learning impairment and severe autism for his entire life. Despite his impairment, Derek has the unique gift of perfect pitch, and is able to play any piece of music after hearing it only once."