New Hartford Boy, 8, Electrifies Ivory and Gets National Spotlight
A New Hartford eight-year-old was put in the spotlight by a national magazine's Facebook page this week, highlighting his ability to 'tickle the ivory.'
A video of Ben Kidwell playing along to Billy Joel's 'Piano Man' was posted on the Facebook page of Pianist, a national magazine, and has garnered more than 600,000 views as of this posting.
There are also nearly 2,000 comments on the video, many of which point out what is obvious to anyone who watches it - you can see how much he thoroughly enjoys playing as he looks up and delivers a smile for the camera. And, man is he good on those keys!
These comments underscore that sentiment:
Commenter Pat wrote: ''Well done he really enjoys his music I think he will go far he really is amazing'', while another, Mary, wrote: ''He looks so proud & happy! Nice to see & great talent....lifelong skill!''
We spoke to Ben's dad, JP, who says his son practices playing for an hour every morning. It just goes to show how consistent practice of your craft, or something you're passionate about, leads to improvement and growth.
Speaking of passion and practice, when he spoke to JP Kidwell he specifically mentioned another young talent from New Hartford who inspired others with her #10KHoursChallenge last year.
Kaia Henderson launched the challenge in the spring of 2020 as COVID-19 began to bog-down the spirits of us all. As she told Spectrum News at the time:
“I came to my brothers with the idea and they helped me put it together,” said Henderson. “I just wanted to give people motivation and encouragement to find something they love to do and get better at it. It’s a tough time for everyone and I wanted to get their minds off it.”
And what a great suggestion from Kaia, to use that lull in 'normalcy' to dive into something you're passionate about to help take your mind off the pandemic, while also falling exponentially further into that passion. In fact, Ben Kidwell was the winner of Kaia's #10kHoursChallenge.
And, at the very young age of 8, Ben Kidwell shows us all that with a combination of time and talent, hard work and persistent practice, it's possible for anyone of any age to be an inspiration to others, and to 'WOW' the world.
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