Derek Paravicini was on 60 Minutes Sunday night with Leslie Stahl

Posted by Goss Showbiz March 15th, 2010 No Comments

Derek Paravicini is blind and autistic. He is severely disabled yet he can play and remember any tune he has ever heard.

Derek Paravicini, a blind savant from England, is profiled tonight on CBS’ 60 Minutes. Paravicini, 30 years old, has a difficult time communicating verbally and physically. But he plays the piano at a
level that is beyond brilliant; it seems almost otherworldly.

As Lesley Stahl looks on and makes requests, as if sitting next to a Billy Joel type piano man in a dark lounge, Paravicini seamlessly and effortlessly transitions between classical, pop, and show tunes.

Not only, in fact, is Paravicini able to play any piece of music that he’s ever heard, he’s able to play them in any number of different styles, taking a show tune, for example, and playing it in a jazz style and back again as if he is simply changing the stations on a television.

Asked, however, to take his hands off of the piano and raise three fingers for the camera, Paravicini awkwardly raises both hands and seems lost.

The juxtaposition of Paravicini’s awkward social interactions and his beautiful piano expression is as striking as anything you will ever watch; it will, quite easily put a lump in your throat.

The condition of savant syndrome, sadly, most often does not come with ability as extraordinary as Paravicini’s. As with most human conditions, the vast majority of people fitting into the savant category do not demonstrate this type of special talent. Though the signs of extraordinary ability are often there, they are far more subtle.

According to the Savant Academy, an organization dedicated to helping people with Savant Syndrome, there are probably no more than fifty people in the world today who possess the sort of talent that Paravicini does.

Derek Paravicini (born July 26, 1979) is a blind English autistic savant and a musical prodigy. He currently lives in Surrey, England.

Paravicini was born extremely prematurely, at 25 weeks. (A normal pregnancy lasts 40 weeks.) His blindness was caused by oxygen therapy given during his time in a neonatal intensive care unit. This also affected his developing brain, resulting in his severe learning disability. Furthermore Paravicini developed autism.

However, he also has absolute pitch and can play a piece of music after hearing it once. He began playing the piano by the age of two. 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, and then pushed the player, Adam Ockelford, aside to take over. Ockelford encouraged him and arranged first weekly and then daily lessons.