William in 2019 won the American Protêgé International Piano and Strings Competition and later, the American Protêgé young musicians category. In early 2019, after 18 months of lessons, Besalyan said William was ready for competitions. “He’s extremely intelligent,” Besalyan said of William. “That was one of the biggest reasons I took him on. But after speaking to William in person, then hearing him play, Besalyan offered to teach William himself. But one man offered to meet with them: Georgia State University associate professor of music Raffi Besalyan, a 47-year-old piano prodigy himself when he lived in the old Soviet Union who has had an impressive music career himself.īesalyan at first suggested he could find a grad student to teach William. They emailed music professors at local universities who had piano experience. So off the parents went hunting for another teacher. Even then, it didn’t take long for her to admit that he was too good for her. She switched him to actual classical pieces. Young theater critic Iain Armitage appeared on last nights LITTLE BIG SHOTS, a new NBC reality competition for young talent hosted by Steve Harvey.The 7-year-old star not only helped explain. She soon realized he was excelling too quickly for beginner piano textbooks. When William was four, they finally found a woman at church willing to take William on and possessed a real passion for music. Other teachers were, as Todd said, “sketchy.” Many teachers turned them down, saying William was too young, suggesting they wait until he’s closer to seven. That was much tougher than they had anticipated. The next step was to find a piano teacher. (Steinway's were too pricey and overrated, Julie said.) And they avoided a cheaper "starter" piano, investing instead in a quality $20,000 mahogany wood German-made Schimmel. When he turned two, his parents decided to make an investment: a stand-up piano. William was instantly captivated by the white and black keys. Todd Zhang, William's dad who runs a web design/e-commerce business with his wife Julie, was killing time at Georgia Tech one day while his wife was doing some work so he entered an empty classroom with William that happened to have a piano.
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