“They discuss music between themselves much more than they would discuss it with me because I don’t have a music education,” said Nediak. His sister Dorothy, 7, recently started playing and his brother Alexander, 12, also studies music and piano at a high level. Leonid has two siblings, both involved in piano. But I would be completely 100% behind him with whatever choice he decides to take, whether it’s music or something else.” “At this point, it’s hard to say if it’s going to be his career. “It’s very difficult to tell at this point because when a child is so young, he really needs to come to terms with what his emotional connection to music is,” he said. Nediak is trying to shield his son from the media spotlight because of his age and so that he stays focused on his music.īut at this early point in his son’s life, he’s unsure what the future holds for him musically. Nediak said his son used to attend Ecole Lundy’s Lane in French immersion but now is home schooled because of his involvement in music. “We noticed he was humming recognizable melodies even when he was very, very young, so I think it was a natural interest.”
“I think it was really natural for him,” said Mikhail of his son’s musical beginnings. He credits Leonid’s skills and work ethic to his parents - Mikhail and Ying Liu Nediak. “Just like kids who pick up new books, he picks up new music,” Berkovsky said. He’s been teaching the boy for the past 18 months. Berkovsky also communicates with him several times a week by Skype. He’s very advanced, not only in music but also in science and math in particular.”īerkovsky, who visits Kingston once a week from his home in Toronto to teach Leonid and other pianists, said Leonid practises two to three hours a day. “I was very proud as a teacher and very moved as a musician by his performance both technically and musically. He worked really vigorously and we spent quite a lot of time working with the challenging repertoire that I gave him,” said Berkovsky. “The performance was a combination of the work we did in class. Michael Berkovsky, Leonid’s piano teacher, accompanied him on a second piano while he played Chopin’s piece. The Canadian Music Competition is one of Canada’s premiere competitions for young classical performers. This will be, for the rest of my life, one of my greatest musical souvenirs.” “Everybody got very emotional because the music was so pure and so touching, and after he finished playing, we all looked at each other and everybody was crying. She said at times during the performance she closed her eyes and couldn’t tell if it was a child or an adult playing the piece. “He really had the excellent technique to play the concerto, but what impressed us even more (was that) his interpretation was so mature.” Usually kids don’t play that,” said Bessette, who is a concert pianist and professor of piano at the Conservatoire de Music de Montreal. It’s a very big concerto it’s a part of the classic repertoire for piano.
“We all thought this is really something. Judge Louise Bessette was impressed that a nine-year-old would play the Chopin piece because it is a long and difficult performance. His performance brought some of the judges of the competition to tears. Nediak performed in the nine-year-old age group, but because his score of 99 was the highest of anyone between the ages of seven and 10, he was named the overall highest scorer in that category. Kingston’s Leonid Nediak won the seven-to-10-year-old category in the Canadian Music Competition, which took place in Sherbrooke, Que., this week. A local nine-year-old piano prodigy has taken home top honours in a national classical music contest.
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