Meet Lydian, Madras’ mini Mozart

If you see him in person, you cannot believe that this 13-year-old has stunned the world by his amazing piano playing skills. Lydian Nadhaswaram from Chennai can play the instrument at an incredible speed. We caught up with the youngster at his house in Saligramam where he spoke about his ambitions and plans for the future.

“After seeing my father, Varshan and my sister, Amrithavarshini playing the instrument at home, I got interested in 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 piano for three years,” says Lydian, who has impressed AR Rahman. ARR has described Lydian as KM Music Conservatory’s little hero.

Recently, the youngster took to the world stage and stunned the judges on CBS show, The World’s Best. After seeing the performance, he was invited for The Ellen DeGeneres Show, where he just wowed the audience with his skills. “It was surreal to be part of the show — Ellen is one of my favourite hosts and it was fun to be on her show. 

I played Mozart’s Turkish March blindfolded. I wasn’t nervous at all but enjoyed the whole episode,” he says. Lydian had earlier performed in front of the likes of Drew Barrymore, RuPaul, and Faith Hill on The World’s Best, a talent-based reality TV show.

The sudden fame and recognition haven’t affected Lydian. When asked if the attention gives him ‘pressure’, Varshan, Lydian’s father, pitches in, “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.”

Lydian’s elder sister Amrithavarshini is also a pianist and singer. Interestingly, the siblings are home-schooled. “I don’t believe in the current educational system. Moreover, both my children are interested in music and wanted to pursue it. So, my wife and I decided to homeschool them and train in music. Though being a music director, at this point, I am not interested to get busy in the film industry. I would rather spend time training my children,” shares Varshan.

We asked Lydian if he gets into creative differences while practising with his sister to which he says, “We practise together for 6-7 hours. We both have different musical styles and have come to an understanding. So things are easy.”

A huge admirer of ARR and Ilaiyaraaja, he loves to listen to the duo’s music. “Though I met Raja uncle recently I couldn’t spend much time with him. But Yuvan Shankar Raja uncle has promised me to take to Raja uncle once he is back from the tour,” he says in an excited voice.

If not playing piano, Lydian loves to watch animation movies like Planes and Storks. “They are my favourite movies. My dream is to compose music, especially, for Hollywood animation movies. I also wanted to become the world’s best pianist and go to the moon and play Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata.

It is one of the toughest pieces but I am sure I can master it. At present, I am working on my independent music album in collaboration with my sister,” he says confidently.