Blind Korean Five-year-old Piano Prodigy is New Internet Sensation

Sat, Jul 12, 2008, by R J Evans

Web Talk

Watch the incredible footage and read the background story of the five year old Korean piano prodigy, Yoo Ye-eun.

The internet often raises questions. The latest question is “Are geniuses simply born rather than developed?” That is the question many people ask themselves when they encounter Yoo Ye-eun for the first time on one of a number of websites where video footage of her appears. Blind since birth, the five year old Korean girl has stunned TV and internet users with footage of her remarkable abilities.

It was last year that the TV show “Star King” introduced the child prodigy to a wide audience. Still at nursery school and having to be helped up on the piano stool, the youngster often moves her audiences to tears with her renditions of Beethoven, Chopin and Mozart.

Watch Yoo Ye-eun play!

According to her adoptive mother, Yoo Ye-eun can play a tune after hearing it only once. The child first demonstrated her talent two years ago when, after hearing her mother humming a song popular at the time she repeated it – note and pitch perfect – on a borrowed piano. For a while this talent was kept secret, known only to close friends and family but thanks to video footage available on websites, such as YouTube her fame is now beginning to spread.

Like other child geniuses, little Yoo Ye-eun has had some personal tragedies. She was abandoned at birth and was set to be raised in an orphanage. Fortunately, Yoo Chang Joo and his wife were looking for a little girl to adopt. Since Yoo Chang Joo was wheelchair bound, he and his wife decided to adopt a child with physical disabilities. So it was that Yoo Ye-eun came to live with them, followed several years later by the discovery of her prodigious talents.

Ye-Eun returns to “Star King”

Her adoptive parents were determined that her first appearance on “Star King” was to be her last so that Yoo Ye-eun could escape the trappings and potential of trauma of great fame when still a child. However, she had captured the heart of the nation and was soon back on TV due to popular demand – and through her own choice. It seems that when she grows up she wants to be a concert pianist.

Ye-eun plays while Connie sings

Since then she has performed in front of Lee Hsien Loong, the Korean Prime Minister and has even dueted with British child star Connie Talbot. As her amazing abilities spread around the internet, she is almost certainly bound to become a global name. However, the real question still remains – “Are geniuses simply born?” Time will tell if this little girl’s remarkable talent for mimicry develops in to a talent for original composition, but this would be the great hope for her.

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10 Comments For This Post

  1. Hein Marais Says:

    WOW! What great talent.

  2. Juliane Elliott Says:

    Wonderful! I always prefer “people stories!” :)

  3. Abby Rose Says:

    I had seen something about her on television a few months ago. She is a pretty amazing girl. Thanks for the story!

  4. Quail Says:

    Awesome article RJ,Thank you for sharing this. Creator’s Blessings my friend.

  5. Ruby Hawk Says:

    That is so amazing. I always wonder where does such talent come from in one so young with no training.

  6. Anne Lyken-Garner Says:

    A fine article with genuine writing. A welcome change from listings. A good find, thanks for sharing this.

  7. Venkatesh Says:

    “Are geniuses simply born”

    Geniuses are only born….they can’t be made

  8. hirb Says:

    amazing…

  9. S'porean Says:

    Please note that Lee Hsien Loong is the Prime Minister of Singapore, not Korea.

  10. tatiana Says:

    She is definitly something..:D
    hope you don’t mind me being your fan…
    ehe this is a good story

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