Lucy Illingworth captivated the nation at just 13 when she performed Debussy’s Arabesque on Channel 4’s The Piano last year.
The Halifax teen moved viewers to tears as they watched in awe as the blind and autistic pianist recited the piece from memory.
The performance was so moving that Lucy was crowned the winner of the show in February last year with classical pianist Lang Lang, one of the judges, calling her a “genius”.
The star pianist started playing the piano at the age of three and Daniel has been by her side ever since.
Here we take a look at the musician’s wonderful bond with her piano teacher and Music activist Daniel Bath as The Piano returned to our screens last Sunday.
It all started very young for the piano prodigy, first playing the keyboard when she was just two years old.
Daniel first discovered her abilities when she performed Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, years before the blind and autistic teenager performed on stage at the Royal Festival Hall.
In fact, Lily was lucky enough to start piano lessons with Professor Daniel when she was just three years old thanks to music charity The Amber Trust, which he is proud to be a part of.
He recalls: “I first met Lucy in a ball pit at school and at first I didn’t see anyone in the room. And then I saw this little hand coming out of the ball pit.
”And someone said “Oh, it’s Lucy”. So I put a little keyboard on hand, and the hand started playing, in a rather mischievous way, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.
“And I thought, ‘Here’s a girl who really cares about music.’ And this could be a way to free one’s language, one’s social skills and, above all, one’s enjoyment of life.”
The family upgraded their keyboard and realized that she was composing music in her head while sitting on the couch. She was also able to listen to music after listening to it just once.
“From a fairy tale book with a piano on it, she started playing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star but it was perfect. It was such a moment to hear that,” recalls Lucy’s mother Candice.
However, Daniel admitted the lessons weren’t easy at first as he had to figure out how to teach and make the most of his talent.
-He said that when he first started teaching, Lucy couldn’t listen to a piece for more than 10 seconds before she grew impatient and swatted his hands away.
Now he’ll play her the whole song, before asking Lucy to recite what she remembers having.
He said, “You can’t teach Lucy, you can only guide her on her journey.”
They teach hands separately, with Daniel saying he sometimes has to physically raise his hands so they can jump over each other.
Lucy places her hand under Daniel’s while Daniel is still playing, gently pressing her fingers before trying the piece for herself.
“She loves to improvise, she loves playing jazz and the social interactions that come with it,” he said.
To perform, Lucy responds to the music with her body, particularly with her head and leg, which Daniel says he sometimes has to hone his energy to his fingertips.
The pianist, who was born with cancerous tumors in her eyes and is largely non-verbal, was nominated by her mother Candice for The Piano because she wanted to show others how “amazing” she was and raise awareness of her condition .
Daniel, a proud piano teacher and music activist, confessed: “Of course she is brilliant and working with her is the biggest blessing a scruffy music teacher like me could dream of.
“But Lucy is what happens when you provide instrument lessons to underprivileged kids. Help us get this message across to those who decide.
According to his website, Daniel, who has experience with keyboard, strings, voice and brass, is a “jazz and classical pianist, ethnomusicologist and music education activist.”
He graduated in music from Cambridge University and has worked as a community musician and teacher since moving to Todmorden, West Yorkshire, in 1997.
The fervent Catholic has worked in daycare centers, refugee centers, schools and even prisons.
He still works as a tutor for the Amber Trust, a charity for young visually impaired musicians and founded Music For The Many – to provide free instrument lessons to children and young people.
