ARR visits pianist Lydian after boy’s million-dollar win

Rahman visited Lydian at his Saligramam home, and the boy wonder was thrilled to see his mentor. Lydian and his sister Amirthavarshini, who is a flautist, performed for ARR. Later, the whole family posed for pictures with Lydian’s prestigious award. Lydian, who is a student of Rahman’s Chennai-based KM Music Conservatory, was voted winner of World’s Best show, a talent contest hosted by the CBS Network. The contest with  participants from more than 150 countries, has an impressive panel of judges that include Hollywood actor Drew Barrymore and Faith Hill. The show is hosted by James Corden. ARR has described Lydian as KM Music Conservatory’s little hero.

Speaking to DT Next in an earlier interview, Lydian spoke about how he started playing piano. “After seeing my father, Varshan and my sister, Amrithavarshini playing the instrument at home, I became interested in  the piano and started playing it from the age of nine. My dad is my first guru — he taught me the basics and later, I enrolled at KM Music Conservatory. I learned Russian style of playing the piano for three years,” he said.

Lydian shot to fame when he appeared in the popular Ellen DeGeneres Talk Show where he performed on the piano blindfolded. When asked if the attention was ‘stressful’, Varshan, Lydian’s father, said, “Actually, it’s not ‘pressure’, playing music is a ‘pleasure’ for my son. He doesn’t mute any note while playing right from his childhood. He gets the exact tone from the piano and that’s his gift. He also has got a perfect pitch sense.”