Meet Xin Ben.
I think the picture pretty much says it all - but there is much more to it than meets the eye.
As a matter of fact, her whole road that lead her to learning piano is an astonishing story by itself - a story that is so touching that a movie was even made on it: Mr. Mergler's gift.
Quoting the lines of the official synopsis of the movie:
"The girl sits at the piano and plays the opening bars of Für Elise. Daniel Mergler has heard the Beethoven bagatelle countless times over the decades, but this is different. He listens with surprise, and delight lights up the old man's eyes.
The young pianist is Xin Ben, the 9-year-old daughter of Chinese immigrants. Fate has brought her to Mr Mergler, a music teacher whose career is drawing to a close."
I really invite you to check out the short movie that was done on Xin Ben's progression with Daniel Mergler, but I have to warn you that you will be moved, as the story is not fictional and really happened a few years ago. Music has really that much power in our lives, yet we don't realize it. I have heard Xin Ben play in real life, and her music is played with an eloquent interpretation of her own, produced by the striking technique that she has initially learned throughout the years, starting with Mr. Mergler. For the connaisseurs, you will recognize works from Beethoven, Chopin and Schubert, among others.
Here are the links of the short movie, for those interested:
films.nfb.ca/mrmerglersgift/
www.nfb.ca/film/mr_merglers_gift/
And for techies:
- 1 overhead small octa
- 1 bare camera left pointing down to piano
- 1 bare camera right pointing down to piano
Larger 