Mumbai-based music prodigy Ayaan Deshpande (10) has sprung into the global limelight. Last August, he was adjudged winner in piano proficiency and composition at the Golden Key Music Festival, Vienna. This qualified him to perform at the winners’ Gala Concert held at the majestic Ehrbar Hall — once the concert venue for 19th century Western classical composers Brahms, Bruckner and Mahler — and at the World Composers’ Concert at Bosendorfer Hall in Mozarthaus (Mozart’s residence). Last October, Ayaan was conferred the Unstoppable 21 Award of the Times of India.

Ayaan’s music education began when he was merely five, with Indian classical vocal music. He however, was attracted to Western classical music and loved listening to Fur Elise, Mozart’s Sonata and Turkish March on YouTube. Inspired by these great compositions, Ayaan started playing a 61-key junior electric keyboard in 2020, a gift from his parents during the Covid-19 pandemic. “I started learning to play the keyboard by following YouTube tutorials. Soon, I graduated to the Synthesia app, a digital keyboard training platform,” recalls Ayaan.

When Ayaan turned seven (2021), his father enrolled him in the Symphony Orchestra of India (SOI) Music Academy of the National Center for Performing Arts (NCPA), Mumbai, under the tutelage of Kazakh pianist Aida Bisengalieva. Within six months of tutorials and online classes, Bisengalieva became aware of Ayaan’s extraordinary musical talent and informed his parents.

Based on Aida’s assessment, Ayaan’s father Tanmay Deshpande, a mathematician at Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, and his software engineer mother Ashwini, decided to homeschool Ayaan, then a class III student attending online school, to facilitate his learning and practice.

Since his solo debut at NCPA in July 2022, Ayaan has performed before several musical maestros. This January, he did a gig with Jazz legends Herbie Hancock and Dianne Reeves.

“All my achievements are thanks to my supportive parents, my piano teacher Aida, and Marat Sensei, music director of the SOI Academy,” says Ayaan who is currently preparing for the annual SOI concert.

Clearly this young maestro is cut out for great things!

Nasrin Modak Siddiqi (Mumbai)