By the time he appeared before the judges during the ninth season of “America’s Got Talent,” this nine-year-old already had a lifetime’s worth of accomplishments under his pint-sized belt.
He’d skipped five grades and was in the eighth grade, held three recitals at Carnegie Hall, took third place in the American Protege International Music Talent competition, and blew Ellen’s socks off during an appearance on her show…
So it should’ve come as no surprise that Adrian Romoff could play the extremely difficult and fast-paced “Flight of the Bumblebee” during his 2014 audition with flawless precision.
“Are you exhausted now?” a visibly shocked Heidi Klum asked. “I’m exhausted from this.”
“Well you’d be even more exhausted if you were doing this,” replied the slightly panting contestant.
Adrian took up the piano when he was just over four years old. He lives with his family in Peachtree City near Atlanta, Georgia, and his mother, Olga Romoff, serves as his primary teacher (although he’s probably surpassed her by this point).
But Howard Stern was so stunned at the conclusion of the 34-second piece that he jokingly implied a soundtrack was playing in the background somewhere.
With a shrug, Adrian then launched into an encore performance, Chopin’s “Grande Valse Brillante” in E-flat major, his little fingers flying across the keyboard like they had a mind of their own.
“You are the future. You are absolutely brilliant, the way you play, you live that music, I see it coming through your body,” Howie exclaimed.
“You are so far beyond your years. You know what, England has Harry Potter, we have you!”
Of course, this little prodigy got four yeses and reached the quarterfinals before he was eliminated. But his accomplishments in the three years since are many: He’s now a sophomore at Bard’s College at Simon’s Rock in Massachusetts, where he’s studying pre-engineering and computer science.
Last month, he took a short break to make his debut at Manhattan’s Lincoln Center. You heard it here first, folks: This kid’s going places.
Watch Andrian’s incredible audition on AGT in the video below and share to spread his amazing talent!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGJ4SCuy3Ao