Young achiever: Child pianist Aarav Lad won international piano competition

A student of class 4 from Bengaluru, Aarav competed in the music competition along with participants from 24 other countries in the 9 to 11 age group. Incidentally, he was the only Indian in that age group to win a prize. This young achiever aims to create his own compositions in the future.

Aarav’s parents, Ankita and Kapil Lad talk about their son’s musical pursuits. Ankita says, “Aarav has always been musically inclined. He started showing interest in the piano quite early. We got him a 32-key mini piano for his 4th birthday, and he was hooked on it. Seeing his interest, we got him enrolled in classes and he started learning formally from age 5.” Kapil Lad adds, “Another trait of Aarav is that he focuses on whatever activity he picks up. From early childhood, he has been learning the Western classical genre. As it has a large piano repertoire, he loves to master new and challenging classical pieces.

Love for math

Aarav loves numbers and tells us mathematics is his favorite subject. It may be too early to say, but we do ask Aarav what he wants to be when he grows up. And he always tells us that he wants to be both a pianist and a mathematician! As parents, we are always here to support him.

His teachers

“Aarav has been learning from renowned concert pianists, Natallia Kapylova and Liudmila Drazhnik," Ankit says. “He has a penchant for learning and loves reading books on maths and science. He started reciting the entire periodic table at the age of 5.”

Other interests

“Apart from the piano, Aarav loves to listen to classical music. He also enjoys solving Rubik’s cubes. He can solve the 3x3 cube in 10-11 seconds and the 2x2 cube in 3-4 seconds."

Is his 5-year-old sister Arya also into music?

Ankita says, “She may be just 5 years old, but Arya has specific interests of her own, she is more inclined towards singing and has been learning it for a year now"

(As told to Monali Bordoloi)