I had met Irfan and his father in Hong Kong in October, and after his Thailand debut, I visited him back stage to renew our acquaintance and to congratulate him on his performance. Left to right: Buzz, pianist Irfan, his younger sister, and my friend Susan. Irfan’s very nice father took the picture. They live in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

College of Music, Mahidol University. Nakhonpathom, Thailand. November 20, 2010. I’m not a big booster of musical child prodigies, and I’d prefer to let them develop outside of my presence, but 12-year old Malaysian pianist Tengku Ahmad Irfan, may be an exception. Suffice it to say that he’s adorable and unaffected by his prodigious talent. He performed Mozart’s piano concerto no. 27, and Chopin’s Andante Spianato beautifully, far better than anyone had any reason to believe possible for one so physically slight and young. No one can predict the future, but he’s off to an extraordinary start. The Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra’s performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6, was excellent in every respect. Polish conductor Darius Mikulski was in charge.