Alex hopes to study in St Petersburg

Little Pavarotti Alex

INTERVIEW - With 13-YEAR-OLD PODIGY ALEX PRIOR

JUST occasionally you come across a character who possesses musical talent in such abundance it is quite hard to comprehend.
One such incident occurred when I met Alex Prior earlier this week, the 13-year-old singer, pianist and composer who has already been dubbed the ‘little Pavarotti’ by critics.
Unusually he possesses a powerful tenor voice.
He has already completed his eight piano grades and is now working towards his diploma, his own compositions have been performed at St Martin-in-the-Fields, he has released his own album – Just a Boy – and performed in front of President Vladimir Putin on live Russian television.
Sitting in the living room of the family’s St John’s Wood flat, his mother, who hasn’t lost her Russian accent, interjects, saying: “I didn’t want him to be a musician but wanted him to try everything.”
As well as attending University College school, Hampstead, he studied at the Royal College of music on a joint course for pianist and singing from the age of nine.
Composing, however, has been a more organic development.
He says: “I started improvising on the piano, I never used to write it down. I would play various styles but mainly romantic.”
Now he is set to travel to Russia for a two-week trial to see if he would like to study at the St Petersburg Conservatoire.
He says: “I showed them my pieces and they liked them and invited me to study there.
“They said that Prokofiev started when he was 14, I can start when I am 13.”
He adds: “I am going there for two weeks to see if it for me.”
His composition output is huge having already completed more than 100 pieces including songs for children, at least one symphony and is currently working on a ballet for children.
He says: “It’s not very long, about an hour and 20 minutes.”
In his small bedroom he plays a recording of his works and an excerpt from his work in progress the ballet Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
The pieces are stunning, ambitious and the stark melodies are infused with Russian folk influence.
One of his next performances in the UK is at the Royal Albert Hall on April 15, where he will be appearing alongside Russell Watson, Amici, G4, Julian Lloyd-Webber and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
See www.alexprior.co.uk for more information.