It is time for Mumbai to know that it has a diamond hidden in its midst.' He just looks like a child, but he is deep, and that is very unusual for someone his age. 'When I practise with him, I'm surprised by how he absorbs everything. Luckily, our work hours are flexible, which helps in managing our time.'īisengalieva says the boy is like a normal child physically, but like a mature adult mentally. 'But it is certainly challenging to manage our daily schedule because Ayaan has music lessons at the NCPA almost every day.

My wife works remotely from home and I work on campus, the same place where we live,' says Tanmay. 'Fortunately, neither of us have to commute to work. The Deshpandes, who primarily speak Marathi at home, live on campus at the TIFR in Colaba. He likes mathematics and history, and loves to learn about animals and wildlife.' 'He is passionate and intelligent and we believe that he would do well in whatever field he may choose. 'We are homeschooling Ayaan since April last year, so that he gets more time for music without compromising on his playing time with friends,' says Tanmay. As if being an under-10 pianist weren't enough of an achievement, in just two years, he has also composed several pieces, including a piano quintet, a sonata, a nocturne and a waltz. Ayaan followed that up with a tour, on invitation, from Almaty, Kazakhstan.

He is now a fixture at Mumbai's concert venues, including the Russian Centre for Science & Culture at Pedder Road, where in late April he astonished an erudite gathering by dishing out Prokofiev. Encouraged by his enthusiastic reception by audiences, he performed in Pune under the aegis of the prestigious Poona Music Society a month later. His first recital as a soloist was in July last year, again at the NCPA, where he performed Mozart, Chopin, Debussy and one of his own compositions. 'No one in our family was into Western classical music,' says his father, Tanmay, who is an associate professor of mathematics at the TIFR.Īyaan had his inaugural public performance in November 2021 at the NCPA, accompanied by the SOI Chamber Orchestra under the violin virtuoso Marat Bisengaliev, who is also the music director of SOI (Symphony Orchestra of India). Seeing his surprising prowess, his parents, finding out about the SOI Music Academy at the NCPA, enrolled him in the piano course there in May 2021.

Famous young piano prodigy