Derek Paravicini (born 26 July 1979) is an English

autistic savant Savant syndrome () is a rare condition in which someone with significant mental disabilities demonstrates certain abilities far in excess of average. The skills that savants excel at are generally related to memory. This may include rapid calc ...

known as a musical

prodigy Prodigy, Prodigies or The Prodigy may refer to: * Child prodigy, a child who produces meaningful output to the level of an adult expert performer ** Chess prodigy, a child who can beat experienced adult players at chess Arts, entertainment, and ...

. He resides in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Biography

On 26 July 1979, Paravicini was born at

Royal Berkshire Hospital The Royal Berkshire Hospital (RBH) is a large NHS hospital in the town of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. It provides acute hospital services to the residents of the western and central portions of Berkshire, and is managed by the R ...

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

, He was born extremely prematurely, at 25 weeks, along with a twin sister, who did not survive birth. He was blinded by an overdosage of

oxygen therapy Oxygen therapy, also known as supplemental oxygen, is the use of oxygen as medical treatment. Acute indications for therapy include hypoxemia (low blood oxygen levels), carbon monoxide toxicity and cluster headache. It may also be prophylactic ...

given during his time in a

neonatal intensive care unit A neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), also known as an intensive care nursery (ICN), is an intensive care unit (ICU) specializing in the care of ill or premature newborn infants. Neonatal refers to the first 28 days of life. Neonatal care, as k ...

. This also affected his developing brain, resulting in him having a severe

learning disability Learning disability, learning disorder, or learning difficulty (British English) is a condition in the brain that causes difficulties comprehending or processing information and can be caused by several different factors. Given the "difficult ...

. He also is considered to be on the autism spectrum. Paravicini has

absolute pitch Absolute pitch (AP), often called perfect pitch, is a rare ability of a person to identify or re-create a given musical note without the benefit of a reference tone. AP may be demonstrated using linguistic labeling ("naming" a note), associating ...

and can play any piece of music after hearing it once. He began playing the piano at the age of two when his nanny gave him an old keyboard. His parents arranged for him to attend the Linden Lodge School for the Blind in London. On his introductory visit to the school, in the music room he broke free from his parents, then headed straight for a piano being played. He pushed the player aside to take over. The player encouraged him and arranged first weekly and then daily lessons. At age seven, Paravicini gave his first concert, at Tooting Leisure Centre in South London. In 1989, at the age of nine, Paravicini had his first major public concert at the

Barbican Hall The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exh ...

in London where he played with the Royal Philharmonic Pops Orchestra. In that year, he appeared on ''

Wogan ''Wogan'' is a British television talk show which was broadcast on BBC1 from 1982 until 1992, presented by Terry Wogan. It was usually broadcast live from the BBC Television Theatre in Shepherd's Bush, London, until 1991. It was then broadcas ...

'' and was the main subject of a documentary called ''Musical Savants''. When he was older, he was presented with a Barnardo's Children's Champion Award by Diana, Princess of Wales, for his performances at age seven and nine. More opportunities followed, including playing at

Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club is a jazz club that has operated in Soho, London, since 1959. History The club opened on 30 October 1959 in a basement at 39 Gerrard Street (London), Gerrard Street in London's Soho district. It was set up and managed ...

. Paravicini's first album ''Echoes of the Sounds to Be'' was released on 27 September 2006. His official biography, ''In the Key of Genius'' by Adam Ockelford, was published in the UK by Hutchinson () on 3 May 2007.

Notable features and performances

Paravicini has appeared on various television programs. He was featured on an episode of Channel 5's '' Extraordinary People,'' in an episode titled "The Musical Genius." This showed his journey to

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish language, Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the List of United States cities by population, 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the U.S. state, state of Neva ...

to play in a charity concert with another savant, Rex Lewis-Clack. He was interviewed twice by

Lesley Stahl Lesley Rene Stahl (born December 16, 1941) is an American television journalist. She has spent most of her career with CBS News, where she began as a producer in 1971. Since 1991, she has reported for CBS's ''60 Minutes''. She is known for her ne ...

for ''

60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who chose to set it apart from other news programs by using a unique st ...

''. In 2009, he was one of the subjects of the

NOVA A nova (plural novae or novas) is a transient astronomical event that causes the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently "new" star (hence the name "nova", which is Latin for "new") that slowly fades over weeks or months. Causes of the dramati ...

series' episode "Musical Minds", featuring neurologist

Oliver Sacks Oliver Wolf Sacks, (9 July 1933 – 30 August 2015) was a British neurologist, naturalist, historian of science, and writer. Born in Britain, Sacks received his medical degree in 1958 from The Queen's College, Oxford, before moving to the Uni ...

, on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of ed ...

. He was featured a second time by ''60 Minutes'' on 14 March 2010. In 2009, he performed for the former

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

Alistair Darling Alistair Maclean Darling, Baron Darling of Roulanish, (born 28 November 1953) is a British politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer under Prime Minister Gordon Brown from 2007 to 2010. A member of the Labour Party, he was a Member ...

, and unexpectedly played "

Big Spender "Big Spender" is a song written by Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields for the musical ''Sweet Charity'', first performed in 1966. Peggy Lee was the first artist to record the song for her album of the same name also that year. It is sung, in the mus ...

". On 26 August 2010, Paravicini was featured on the

History Channel History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Dis ...

's ''

Stan Lee's Superhumans ''Stan Lee's Superhumans'' is a documentary television series that debuted from August 5, 2010 to September 17, 2014 on History. It is hosted by Marvel comic book superhero creator Stan Lee and follows contortionist Daniel Browning Smith, "th ...

''. On the show, he was subjected to testing which verified his savantism and musical ability. After Paravicini improvised at two pianos with the composer Matthew King for a radio programme made for BBC Radio 4, they collaborated on a new piano concerto entitled ''

Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when ...

.'' It was first performed in September 2011 by the Orchestra of St John's in the

Queen Elizabeth Hall The Queen Elizabeth Hall (QEH) is a music venue on the South Bank in London, England, that hosts classical, jazz, and avant-garde music, talks and dance performances. It was opened in 1967, with a concert conducted by Benjamin Britten. The Q ...

, London. This is believed to be the first work for piano and orchestra ever composed for someone with learning disabilities. It was the subject of a feature on

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

in September 2011. On 9 March 2013, Paravicini appeared with Adam Ockelford at TEDxWarwick. During the talk, Ockelford discussed Paravicini's amazing musical abilities, while Paravicini demonstrated them. On 27 December 2017, Paravicini was featured on an episode of '' Mind Field'' with Michael Stevens. The episode explored his musical ability and the science of the mind of a

savant Savant syndrome () is a rare condition in which someone with significant mental disabilities demonstrates certain abilities far in excess of average. The skills that savants excel at are generally related to memory. This may include rapid calcu ...

Family

Paravicini is the son of Nicolas Paravicini and Mary Ann Parker Bowles, sister of

Andrew Parker Bowles Brigadier Andrew Henry Parker Bowles (born 27 December 1939) is a retired British Army officer. He is the former husband of Queen Camilla. Early life and family Andrew Parker Bowles was born on 27 December 1939 as the eldest of four children to ...

. Paravicini's aunt by marriage was Camilla, later

Queen consort of the United Kingdom A royal consort is the spouse of a reigning king or queen. Consorts of monarchs of the United Kingdom and its predecessors have no constitutional status or power but many have had significant influence. There have been 11 royal consorts sin ...

.'Autistic pianist makes legal history after UK's last secret court opens'
''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ...

'' 14 May 2010 After his parents divorced, there were legal questions raised about Paravicini's care. On 13 May 2010, Paravicini made legal history when the United Kingdom's last remaining secret court was opened for the first time to discuss his future care. The

Court of Protection The Court of Protection in English law is a superior court of record created under the Mental Capacity Act 2005. It has jurisdiction over the property, financial affairs and personal welfare of people who lack mental capacity to make decisio ...

, which controls the future of adults incapable of managing their own affairs, appointed Paravicini's family to look after his welfare and commercial future. Until that legal decision was made, the Official Solicitor from the Ministry of Justice had been looking after his affairs. He is a great-grandson of author W. Somerset Maugham and great-great-grandson of

Thomas John Barnardo Thomas John Barnardo (4 July 184519 September 1905) was an Irish-born philanthropist and founder and director of homes for poor and deprived children. From the foundation of the first Barnardo's home in 1867 to the date of Barnardo's death, nea ...

. His stepmother is Susan Rose "Sukie" Phipps (born 1941), who was brought up by Fitzroy Maclean, one of the models for

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 19 ...

. His cousins include food writer

Tom Parker Bowles Thomas Henry Parker Bowles (; born 18 December 1974) is a British food writer and food critic. Parker Bowles is the author of seven cookbooks and, in 2010, won the Guild of Food Writers 2010 award for his writings on British food. He is known ...

and his sister

Laura Lopes Laura Rose Lopes (' Parker Bowles; born 1 January 1978) is an English art curator. She is the daughter of Queen Camilla and Andrew Parker Bowles, and the stepdaughter of King Charles III. Biography Early life Laura Parker Bowles was born on 1 J ...

."Derek Paravicini, the Parker Bowles prodigy"
''

''. 28 February 2008

Bibliography

*Ockelford, Adam: ''In the Key of Genius: The Extraordinary Life of Derek Paravicini'', Arrow, 2008. /

References

External links

Official websiteDerek Paravicini Quartet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paravicini, Derek Autistic savants People on the autism spectrum Blind musicians English jazz pianists English people of Swiss descent English people of Irish descent English people of Italian descent English people of German descent English pianists Living people

Derek Derek is a masculine given name. It is the English language short form of ''Diederik'', the Low Franconian form of the name Theodoric. Theodoric is an old Germanic name with an original meaning of "people-ruler". Common variants of the name are ...