"I have been in three Shakespeare plays." I have no desire to show up anyone else." He sings and acts, too "I just love to play," he said, before pausing. One male student drew a big laugh when he asked Llewellyn if he´s ever walked into a party and seen a kid his age struggling to play "Chopsticks" and just wanted to take over the piano bench and put the kid to shame. Later, his mother said those estimates are probably a little high, but her son doesn´t want anyone to get the impression that music comes easily to him. And when something really special is happening, I practice for five or six hours." "Over the weekend, I usually practice three to four hours. My standard practice time is two to three hours," he said. He doesn´t own video games.ĭoes he feel gifted? No, not at all, he said, turning serious. And when he´s not at a piano, he enjoys playing chess, or with his Legos, or watching political shows on Sunday mornings. Yes, he does have friends his age, he told the crowd. Favorite piece of music? Whatever he´s playing at the moment, he said. Llewellyn agreed to take questions in front of the auditorium.įavorite composer? He likes too many to pick just one. "I don´t know what else you could feel when you see him play."Įarlier this week, after playing all three movements of Beethoven´s sonata "The Tempest" from memory for a music history class, ![]() "It´s nothing but just awe," Sheridan said. When he plays piano, students stop and listen. He´s very mature and confident in social settings," music student Michael Sheridan said. "It was abundantly clear he had a special ability."Īt Ventura College, his classmates view him mostly as a peer, even if he´s the shortest person in the room. "She would play something and he would play it back," she said. The instructor was hesitant to work with him - others had flat refused - until she witnessed his surprising skill, his mother recalled. He would tag along with his mom to her lesson and, before long, he had taken over the bench. Instead, his parents enrolled him directly into college, which better fit his academic and musical needs. Growing up in Ventura, Llewellyn didn´t spend a day in grammar school. "He loves to learn he always has since a very early age," said Martha Werner, who agreed this week to allow her only child to be interviewed and shadowed by a reporter for the first time. His mom keeps a picture: Llewellyn at his desk, his little feet barely reaching the floor. His first exam at the college was at age 5. He has completed more than 135 credits and holds a 4.0 grade-point average. He´s a full-time student at Ventura College, coupling his music courses with English, world history and advanced math. The child prodigy, who will perform Saturday at a benefit concert in Oxnard, has a lot on his mind. But professor Burns Taft, Werner´s personal instructor, noticed that he´d left out a measure - a tiny, virtually unnoticeable breach, but still an embarrassing slip.ĭon´t rush to judge the minor memory lapse too harshly - after all, Llewellyn is 10. Minutes later, the room of college music students roared in approval. ![]() The classroom went quiet and concert pianist Llewellyn Werner launched into a Chopin etude, his neck arched over the ivory keys, his fingers aflutter.
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