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'Human iPod' to Play First Live Concert

by Terrence O'Brien on May 29, 2009 at 03:06 PM

Human iPod to Play First Concert
There are plenty of tales and Discovery Channel specials about musical savants. Though they can barely speak or read, these folks can remember hundreds or even thousands of pieces of music and play them from memory. Or they can play back a piece after hearing it only once. But rarely does one of these savants give a major concert, let alone with a marketing campaign dubbing a severely autistic performer "the human iPod."

Thirty-year-old Derek Paravicini, who suffered brain damage at birth that left him with autism and severe learning disabilities, will be performing a series of concerts in Bristol and at London's Queen Elizabeth Hall. Also blind, Paravicini is unable to read braille and can barely count, so reading music is also out.

Adam Ockelford, a professor of music at Roehampton University, instead taught Paravicini via a violent game of piano tag. Paravicini is very territorial about his piano and would push Ockelford away if he tried to play even a note. So Ockelford began carrying Paravicini across the room and rushing back to the piano to play something before his autistic student shoved him out of the way. Paravicini began copying what his instructor played, using the music as a means of communication.

Paravicini (who's the great-grandson of the writer William Somerset Maugham and the nephew of Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall) is now preparing to give his first full concert, accompanied by an orchestra.

It's unclear how his reputation as a human iPod will come into play at the live events. The crowd shouting suggestions at the savant probably won't be very effective. Perhaps Ockelford will rub circles in Paravicini's back to choose tracks from his seemingly limitless repertoire of songs. [From: Telegraph]

Man Mimics Machine

Tags: autism, concert, human ipod, HumanIpod, music, savant

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