Aditya Deshpande, Pune's piano prodigy

Being the youngest contestant in the advanced category, 11-year-old Aditya Deshpande, never really expected to win MusiQuest, a national piano competition. “Right now it hasn’t sunk in yet, so it’s a weird feeling,” Aditya said. “It’s like I have not won at all. Usually, I don’t think about it much, so every time I do I feel good.”

While Aditya doesn’t typically get stage fright, he found himself nervous before the competition. “I was nervous, because the pieces I was playing were hard, so I was afraid I would mess up in front of the international panel of judges. But then, I played my first piece and got gold.”

The pianist only started playing four-and-a-half years ago and was up against some stiff competition, as MusiQuest was open to students up to 25 years of age.

Early on, Aditya’s mother felt he had a gift for music. “We used to listen to classical music a lot and he seemed to recognise snippets from years ago that he had heard somewhere,” said Swati. “I figured we had a piano at home, so why not get him started on that.” Swati may have suspected her son had a gift, but his talent constantly surprises her. He reads through books of sheet music like novels, playing the pieces out in his head before trying out those that catch his fancy. He can even pick out several notes played together while blindfolded. 

Aditya’s talent was discovered just before moving to India from Texas at the end of 2008. “I was playing easy piano pieces and getting bored, so I just tried playing a harder piece and I played that for my last recital in Houston,” Aditya said. “That is actually how I started playing bigger pieces,” he added. His family was worried that they wouldn’t be able to find a suitable piano teacher in India who was advanced enough for Aditya and knew how to teach chuldren. Fortunately, they found Roxana Anklesaria-Doctor, who founded the Academy of Music in Pune.  Aditya modestly attributes his success to her teaching.

The standard VI of the Symbiosis Primary School enjoys playing piano because his talent gives him confidence. It also helps him relax. “If there’s any tension before I start playing, I try to clear my mind of that, but usually it doesn’t go away,” Aditya said. “When I start playing, it’s like a big weight is lifted off me and I have no problem.”  While he says he’s not sure what the future holds, Aditya has big dreams. He thinks it would be amazing to have the chance to play for Zubin Mehta, the famous Indian conductor, and aspires to have the chance to play at Carnegie Hall in New York.