Magnusson hailed the kid as being on the level on of Mozart and said watching the kid play on the piano was 'like looking at the face of God.'
Editor's note: This article was originally published on January 4, 2023. It has since been updated.
A person's generosity has the capacity to change someone else's life for the better. And in this case, it was a professional Colorado piano tuner, Bill Magnusson, who transformed the life of a little kid. He bought a grand piano for a child prodigy using his father’s inheritance, according to PEOPLE. It all started when 11-year-old Jude Nyame Yie Kofie's father heard his son playing the piano. He had never been taught to play the piano but he was playing like a pro.
The video of him playing the piano became popular on YouTube. In the video, he surprises his father with "hidden musical mastery." He shot into the spotlight as he was featured on Denver’s ABC 7, where he showcased his talent and his mastery of the piano. Once the show got over, the station got a call from Magnusson. He was in awe of Kofie’s talent and wanted to support the child to see him grow as a musician. Magnusson said that this child is “Mozart level.” "And he deserves the very best."
It's not every day that you come downstairs and discover that your son is a savant!
— Danny New (@DannyNewTV) September 21, 2022
Jude Nyame Yie Kofie, 11, surprised his father one morning when he heard his son playing the keyboards as if he had taken lessons for years 🎹🎼 @DenverChannel pic.twitter.com/0ALvKwE7ZI
Soon, Magnusson bought Kofie a grand piano using the money he received as an inheritance from his father. He said that he knew that his father would have also loved to help such a child. Kofie’s father told the news station that there was no way he could have been able to buy his son a grand piano and had never imagined that a piano would be in his living room. For Magnusson, it was “like looking at the face of God.” He added, “It really is.”
Boulder's Jude Nyame Yie Kofie, 11, went viral for suddenly sitting down at the family's keyboard and playing anything he heard. Now Bill Magnusson is buying Jude a grand piano, recruiting the perfect teacher and forming a bond with the whole family. https://t.co/lrVhYcXQkA
— Jassa Skott (@JassaSkott) December 28, 2022
Moreover, Magnusson got Kofie a piano teacher called Mr. Sullivan. He is from the same hometown as Kofie and they have been bonding well. "He's so eager," Sullivan told the station. "He's so hungry to learn more. "The ripple effects for the next 70 or 80 years are incalculable," Magnusson said. "It's not just for him. It's for all the people he's going to touch."
11-year-old pianist Jude Nyame Yie Kofie playing “When the Saints Go Marching In.” pic.twitter.com/nN3KsvYIPI
— Dust-to-Digital (@dusttodigital) October 30, 2022
Talking about the prodigy, a 5-year-old Alberto Cartucccia Cingolan, in Italy, stunned his audience with a rendition of Piano Sonata No. 16 in C major composed by Mozart. The performance was posted on Twitter and has more than 5 million views. Alberto was introduced to the piano when he was just 3 years old. He started with simple practice lasting 10 minutes long and has now become a piano prodigy, as reported by MyModernMet.
The child’s mother is a singing instructor and the father works as a teacher in the Lombardy region. When they first introduced Alberto to the piano, they saw his natural affinity for the piano. He is still learning to read music but has the ability to identify and recreate any musical note.
Alberto's mother Alessia Cingolani said, "He started playing during the months of the first lockdown.” "I was always at home, so we started playing with a small keyboard, in order to do something stimulating. From there I realized that Alberto was well-suited. [Doing this, my] husband and I noticed that he had perfect pitch. For a year and a half now, [Alberto] has been doing remarkable things, both for his age and for the time it took him to learn. Even though he still doesn't know how to read [music] notes well, indeed almost not at all, he takes his position on the keyboard and repeats the pieces. He is very instinctive."