11-year-old Matthew Smith, a child prodigy from Nottingham, England, will soon write his name in history as the youngest conductor of a 75-piece orchestra. The musical genius is already a Grade 5 standard violinist, who also plays the drums, guitar, piano and viola. “He undoubtedly does have a natural ability”, said Matthew’s music teacher and mentor Derek Williams.
Matthew became inspired to try his hand at conducting after he watched a video of a 7-year-old conducting Johann Strauss’ operetta “Die Fledermaus”, which he has since committed to memory. In a recent interview with Sky News, Matthew said, “At first I was nervous but you just get used to doing it, but the thing is you just have to keep counting the beats.”
To prepare for his historic opening debut, Matthew has been rehearsing with a full orchestra for the last couple of weeks. He will lead Notttingham’s Symphony Orchestra in a performance of the aforementioned classical piece.
Matthew’s opening debut will be at the Nottingham Royal Concert Hall on April 2. Best of luck Matthew!