Chennai’s 13-Year Old Piano Prodigy Lydian Nadhaswaram Wins 1st Prize, $1 Million Prize Money In ‘The World’s Best’

A 13-year-old pianist trained by noted musician A R Rahman’s K M Music Conservatory (KMMC) in Chennai, Lydian Nadhaswaram has clinched the top prize on the first season of the CBS global talent show ‘The World’s Best’, reports Deccan Chronicle.

The runners up in the competition was South Korea’s Kukkiwon, also called ‘The Flying Taekwondo Masters’.

Executive producer Mark Burnett has referred to the show as ‘the Olympics for entertainment’.

The KM Music Conservatory, which has been providing musical training of international standards to Indian students, conducted a special function yesterday (14 March) to mark Lydian’s achievement.

Some of Nadhaswaram‘s signature performances include playing the piano blindfolded, playing two of them at once, etc.

Praising the young prodigy’s talent, A R Rahman stated, “Lydian's success is India's success, in a world with so much negativity and restlessness, this has brought hope, love and happiness to our lives. Who knew that, KMMC, a seed sown 11 years ago, would bring such inspiration to so many, such is the extraordinary power of music.”

Nadhaswaram has been training for the last four years under a full scholarship at the KM Music Conservatory with Surojeet Chatterji as his mentor.