The Orchestral Maneuvers of Mexican Child Prodigy Daniela Liebman

This isn’t a case Tales of a Fourth Grade NothingDaniela Liebman, a gifted and talents fourth grader, is already making something —her musical dreams a reality…

The 9-year-old Mexican pianist made her solo debut over the weekend with the Jalisco Philharmonic Orchestra in western Mexico to help kick-off the orchestra’s season.

Daniela Liebman

Liebman, who has performed in the U.S., Spain and Italy, played pieces by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and other classical composers during her appearance in her home state of Jalisco.

“I love to play because you can make people feel things that you can’t make them feel with words,” Daniela told Efe after signing autographs and posing for photos with fans on Sunday night.

The philharmonic phenom, who has performed with the orchestra at the Teatro Degollado in Guadalajara, comes from a family of talented musicians. And, the child prodigy started playing the piano at the age of 3 and turned professional at the age of 6, according to her teacher, composer and conductor Anatoly Zatin.

Despite her incredible talent and performance schedule, Liebman is like most girls her age. The 4th grader attends school from Monday to Wednesday, does chores, plays video games and surfs the Internet.

The rest of the week, though, she spends time in Colima, where her teacher serves as director of the Instituto Universitario de Bellas Artes.

Liebman spends about three to four hours a day at the keys, putting in “a pretty intense session,” Zatin said.

And her hard work has paid off! She’s performed at the Varallo International Piano Festival in Milan, Italy, the Elan Piano Festival in Texas and in numerous concerts in various Mexican states.

“It hasn’t been hard because you can’t get nervous about doing something that you like to do,” says Daniela, who won Madrid’s Noche music contest last year.

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