(WSVN) - One South Florida fifth grader is being called a piano prodigy. You probably haven’t heard her name yet, but wait until you hear her play. Karen Hensel has this young musician’s story in our 7 Spotlight.
Jodi Brielle Brown already knows what she wants to do when she grows up.
Jodi Brielle Brown: “Well, I would like to be a famous concert pianist and a doctor.”
Her career in medicine may still be years away, but this 10-year-old’s musical journey is already being written, one note at a time.
Elena Fomicheva, piano teacher: “In my teaching experience, and I’ve been teaching for over 20 years, I only came across two musical prodigies, and Jodi is one of them. They’re very rare. One in a million.”
Elena Fomicheva, a classically trained pianist herself, is Jodi’s longtime piano teacher.
Jodi Brielle Brown: “Piano to me, basically means joy, and I want to bring music into the world.”
Jodi has been bringing music into the world since she was 5 years old, but believe it or not, when she first started…
Jodi Brielle Brown: “Did not think I was good at it. I just couldn’t get it. I just didn’t get it.”
Now, at age 10, not only does Jodi get it, it’s her passion.
Jodi Brielle Brown: “I love playing piano for the crowds. I pretend like it’s just me and the piano. Like, I’m just practicing at home.”
And Jodi has played in some pretty impressive places.
Jodi Brielle Brown: “I played in the birthplace of Mozart, which is Salzburg, Austria.”
And at Carnegie Hall in New York City, twice.
Jodi Brielle Brown: “Umm, when I think about, like, Carnegie Hall, I just thank God for giving me the gift and putting Ms. Elena into to my life because I wouldn’t be where I am now without Ms. Elena and God.”
Elena Fomicheva: “She just, boom. She just gets it, you know, from one lesson to another. She learns real quick. Jodi, her rare talent, she feels the music.”
Jodi says she practices piano every day, and her hard work has paid off.
She has won national and international awards.
Last year, she became the first classical pianist from Florida to take home the top prize in the “Music International Grand Prix.”
As for where she stacks up against others her age.
Elena Fomicheva: “She’s the best in South Florida for sure. I’ve got no doubt.”
Jodi Brielle Brown: “Right now, I’m not sure if I would consider myself a piano prodigy because, I mean, I’m still young and I’m still learning.”
As for what the future may hold…
Jodi Brielle Brown: “That’s basically like my dream to go to Juilliard to just study music and be a composer when I grow up and a doctor.”
Jodi Brielle Brown is next set to compete in an April competition here at home. If she advances to the finals, she will play at University of Miami’s Frost School of Music.
Karen Hensel, 7News.
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