In a world full of accomplished musicians and veteran pianists, one young boy from Chennai stands tall. It became obvious very early on that Lydian Nadhaswaram was destined for great things.
The 13-year-old pianist Lydian was crowned the winner in the CBS talent show The World's Best. He is the son of Varshan Satish, a music director who also assisted with music for the maestro Ilayaraja. Lydian can effortlessly tap away at the piano at mind-boggling speed, and at the same time deliver soulful pieces as his fingers gently pitter-patter across his prized Steinway, a gift from across the world.
Nadhaswaram has always made headlines for his piano skills. From his audition with the 'Flight of the Bumblebee' by Rimsky-Korsakov to his blindfolded performance of the 'Turkish March' by Mozart and his finale performance of 'The Moonlight Sonata', he left many impressed.
At the age of eight, he closely watched his sister who is a flautist and began to play by the ear, with no formal training initially. Watching a YouTube video of Hong Kong piano prodigy Tsung Tsung egged him on.
“I started playing piano at the age of 9, it has been four years now and I really enjoy doing it,” says Lydian.
Lydian has been home-schooling since he practices music for 7-8 hours a day. When asked about that, he said, “I learn only the languages, I can read as well as write Tamil, English, Telugu and Malayalam. I also listen to a lot of motivational speeches on YouTube” he explains.
Apart from music Lydian is also a huge fan of cricket, “Sachin and Dhoni are my favourites, I love watching them play for the country,” he cherishes.
Lydian studied in Oscar winner AR Rahman's music academy. ARR once described Lydian as one of India's treasures.
“My aim is to compose for Hollywood films like the stalwarts John Williams and Hans Zimmer,” he laughs. Lydian has been chosen to compose the tunes for Mohanlal's Barroz since it is a children's film and he would be able to strike the right chord with the audiences with his music.
“I am really happy to compose music for Mohanlal sir, the movie is also directed by Mohanlal himself and I'm quite excited since it is a 3D film,” Lydian concludes.
