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Prodigies



I went to a pre-college concert on saturday.
The piano duettists gave a striking performance of
Mozart's Concerto for Two Pianos, K.365.

The overall effect was of high technical polish in the
American style. Michelle Livengood is 10, and has been
studying piano half her life.
Sun-A Park is 13 and has been studying piano 9 years.

I wondered about the comparable performances of prodigies
in the sciences. I recall Maxwell won a prize for an
analysis of the Saturnine ring system in his teens, but my
impression is that prodigies in science are rarer.

It seems that this combination of high manual dexterity on a
musical instrument, and a musical sense which is sometimes
likened to a mathematical experience is somewhat easier to
produce than youngsters with advanced dexterity in the scientific
subjects, despite the assertion that it is important not to know
too much about a subject in which one will make a break through.

At any rate, admission to such performances is a bargain: it was
free admission to the Juilliard Theater.


brian whatcott <inet@intellisys.net> Altus OK
Eureka!