A. Wonder Children of the Past

1. Georges Bizet - He attended the Conservatoire de Musique de Paris, before he turned 10.
2. Frédéric Chopin - He composed his Polonaises in G minor, B flat major, and 9 at the age of 7 years.
3. Franz Liszt - He had his first major concert at the age of 11 years.
4. Felix Mendelssohn - He was making public concert appearance  at the age of 9 years.
5. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – At the age of 5 years, he has already written a little allegro (K. 1b) and andante (K. 1a).
6. Franz Schubert – Start composing before the age of 12 years.

B. Modern Times Music Prodigies

1. Lang Lang – Piano prodigy who began playing the instrument at the age of 3 years.
2. Derek Trucks - He began playing guitar when he was 9 years old.
3. Vanessa Mae – She began playing the violin at the age of 5 years.
4. Yo-Yo Ma – He began playing the instrument when he was 4.
5. Charlotte Church – Vocal prodigy started performing at the age of 3 years.

In 1957, Anka auditioned at Don Costa from BBC-Paramount Records. Costa was impressed with the young singer’s material including the song “Diana”. Diana was recorded shortly thereafter and it became a big hit making Paul a teen sensation in the late fifties.

Paul also wrote songs for other notable performers such as  Connie Francis, Buddy Holy, Barbra Streisand, Mitch Miller, The Dobbie Brothers, Frank Sinatra “My Way” and Tom Jones “Shes a Lady”.

Paul also appeared on several movies, including The Longes Day for which he wrote the title song that earned him an Academy Award Nomination. Also he wrote the title themes for “No Way Out” and “Atlantic City“. The theme song of The Tonight Show being hosted by Johnny Carson was also his composition. His Italian composition “Ogni Valta” won at the San Remo Song Festival.  During the 1990’s, Paul was made Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters in France. He was inducted into Songwritters Hall Of Fame in 1993.

Paul Anka’s Hit Songs includes Lonely Boy, Put Your Head In My Shoulder, Crazy Love, You Are My Destiny, It’s Time To Cry, {You’re} Having My Baby, Puppy Love, One Man Woman/One Woman Man, I Don’t Like To Sleep Alone, Times Of Your Life and Hold Me Till The Morning Comes.

1. Fletcher Henderson (1897-1952)A pianist, composer, arranger and conductor, led one of the most popular bands in New York in the 1920s and 30. He is responsible for the recruitment of Louis Armstrong and bringing  him to the Big Apple i n Chicago on1924.
2. Duke Ellington (1899-1974) Considered one of the most important composers of American music, Duke Ellington rose to fame during the swing era, performing weekly in New York’s Cotton Club. He led his group through decades of recording and stage, and his compositions and arrangements, which were written with members of the band’s faithful to the spirit, the experience of formal and harmonic devices which are studied to date. Many parts of his repertoire are now considered jazz standards.
3. Coleman Hawkins (1904-1969) Hawkins unique, raspy tone, and command, detailed harmonic improvisation, he became the principal tenor saxophonist in swing music. He developed his style as a member of Fletcher Henderson’s big band and later toured the world as a soloist. His 1939 recording of “Body and Soul” is a milestone in the history of jazz improvisation. Hawkins influence has lasted throughout the advent of bebop and later styles, as the instruments have attempted to achieve its level of sophistication and virtuosity harmonic.
4. Count Basie (1904-1984) The pianist William “Count” Basie started to gather attention when he moved to Kansas City, a hotbed of jazz in 1929, playing with Bennie Moten’s big band. He formed his own group in 1935 and they became one of the most popular in the country, the realization of Kansas City, Chicago and New York. Basie’s piano style is precise and rare, and his compositions and blues enthusiast. Some of his most famous recordings were made with singers, including Joe Williams, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett etc.
5. Johnny Hodges (1906-1970) Hodges studied briefly with Sidney Bechet, who influenced the alto saxophonist of syrupy, lyrical sound, with a voice prompt, such as vibrato. In his 38 years with the orchestra of Duke Ellington, Hodges developed his signature sound, and it is often presented in the band. His tone and the unique approach of the melody have helped define lyrical saxophone playing throughout the development of jazz.
6. Art Tatum (1909-1956) A prodigious talent, the pianist Art Tatum was ahead of his time. Although not associated with any large groups of swing, Tatum was keyboardist during the first era of swing. He could play stride piano in the style of James P. Johnson and Fats Waller, but took his music beyond the conventions of jazz at the time. His technique has been spectacular, and he used his harmonic knowledge, learned by ear, build elegant any tempos. His virtuosity and harmonic innovations set the standard for musicians of bebop in the 1940s and 50s.
7. Ben Webster (1909-1973) Webster with Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young, was one of three titans of the tenor saxophone during the swing period. His sound could be growling and rough on the up-tempo tunes, or graceful and sensitive on ballads. His most known for his time spent in the group of Duke Ellington, he was the first tenor soloist for about eight years, from 1935 to 1943. He recorded a version of “Cotton Tail” which is considered one of the jewels of this period. Webster has spent the last decade of his life and career of celebrated jazz in Copenhagen, Denmark.
8. Benny Goodman (1909-1986) The son of poor Jewish immigrants, clarinetist Benny Goodman moved to New York from Chicago in the late 1920s. In 30 years, he began leading a band of a weekly radio program of dance, for which he has purchased several of Fletcher Henderson arrangements. To promote the music of black musicians, such as Henderson, popular among the white public, it is considered a role in strengthening the swing music. It is also considered one of the best jazz clarinetists of all time.
9. Lester Young (1909-1959) Young is a tenor saxophonist who spent her childhood on tour with the group of his family on a variety of instruments. He moved to Kansas City in 1933 and finally joined Count Basie’s big band, where his tone warm and relaxed, melodic approach to the contents was not often well received by viewers who were used to the harsh, aggressive sound of Coleman Hawkins. However, his style has become very influential in the set of Charlie Parker and bebop hence in general. Young was known for an eccentric style that involved not only his playing but also his clothes and his manner of speech. His nickname ‘Prez’, was presented to him by Billie Holiday.
10. Roy Eldridge (1911-1989) Trumpeter Roy Eldridge is seen as a bridge between swing and bebop music. Coleman Hawkins influenced him, and he was sought after musician in New York, playing in big bands led by Gene Krupa and Artie Shaw. His ability and ease in all registers of the trumpet, and his double-time melodic lines, served as a model for bebop musicians, including Dizzy Gillespie.

1. Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 – 1827) – Beethoven became deaf in his 20, but he continued to create such beautfiul music that is still very popular today. He wrote his Symphony No. 2, op. 36 (D Major), Symphony No. 3 Eroica, op. 55 (E flat major) Symphony No. 4, op. 60 (B flat major) and other great masterpieces, after he became deaf.
2. Michael Bolton (born February 26, 1953) – An American singer / songwriter, who popularized the songs such as “Said I Loved You But I Lied” and “How Am I Supposed to Live Without You?” is deaf in one ear.
3. Itzhak Perlman (born August 31 1945) – is a virtuoso violinist. He trained at the Music Academy of Tel Aviv then continued at Juilliard School. In 1964, he won the Leventritt, he also won several Grammy and has appeared on various television programs. Perlman had polio when he was 4 that leads to permanent paralysis of his legs.
4. Lemon Jefferson (1893 – 1929) – Blind since childhood, guitarist and blues singer was very popular during the 1920s.
5. William Samuel McTell (1901 – 1959) – lost his sight in late childhood, but became one of the best blues guitarists.
6. Ray Charles (1930 – 2004) – singer, composer and pianist. He became blind at age 7 due to glaucoma. He won dozens of Grammy Awards, and he was awarded  the Georgia Music Hall of Fame, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Jazz Hall of Fame.
7. Jose Feliciano (born September 10 1945) – Puerto Rico, guitarist and singer who is blind at birth due to glaucoma. He won several Grammy and is considered one of the best folk guitarists.
8. Evelyn Glennie (born July 19, 1965) – The virtuoso percussionist from Scotland, has a hearing impairment since the age of 12 years. She received an award for Best Performance in Chamber Music in 1989.
9. Stevie Wonder (born May 13, 1950) – American singer and musician who has won numerous Grammy and a Oscar is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Songwriters Hall of Fame. As a newborn, his eyes were damaged due to a high dose of oxygen while in an incubator.
10. Jean Baptiste “Django” Reinhardt (1910 – 1953) – A European jazz musician, the two fingers of his left hand was reduced due to a fire. He was known for his improvisations and toured with the Duke Ellington Orchestra in 1946.
11. Andrea Bocelli (born 22 September 1958) – famous Italian tenor who had glaucoma when he was a child which caused him to become blind. Bocelli is a tenor opera as well as a crossover artist.

1. Louis Armstrong was a musician and composer of jazz, known as one of the founding fathers of jazz.
2. Chuck Berry was a blues and rock and roll guitarist and singer.
3. James Brown was the singer and keyboardist of the Soul, R & B, Funk, Pop and Dance music genres.
4. Ray Charles was known as “The Genius”; he was a gospel singer and pianist.
5. Nat King Cole started as a pianist and later became known as a singer. He has recorded jazz mainly in the 1930s to 40’s and then most of the pop music of the 1950s to 60’s.
6. John Coltrane was an  influential jazz tenor saxophonist.
7. Edmond Dede was a prodigy in violin and conductor at the Théâtre de l’Alcazar for 27 years.
8. Duke Ellington was a composer, conductor and jazz pianist; he was affectionately called “The Duke”.
9. Ella Fitzgerald was known as “The First Lady of Song” and her incredible scat-singing.
10. Dizzy Gillespie was one of the founding fathers of jazz and one of the inventors of bebop.
11. Billie Holiday was nicknamed “Lady Day”  and was one of the first blues singers in history, known for his soul voice.
12. Francis Johnson was the inventor of cotillas and was the first great master of the band in the United States.
13. Scott Joplin was known as the “King of Ragtime” because of his rags to classical piano.
14. B. B. King was known as “The King of the Blues.”
15. Charlie “Bird” Parker influenced the development of “bop” in the 1940s and was one of the greatest soloists in jazz improvisation.
16. Florence Beatrice Price was the first female African-American composer whose work has been done by a leading U.S. orchestra.
17. Ma Rainey was known as the first great blues singer;  she made over 100 recordings under the Paramount label.
18. Bessie Smith was known as “Empress of the Blues”, one of the greatest blues singers of the 1920s.
19. Sarah Vaughan was one of the greatest jazz singers in history whose career spanned nearly 50 years.
20. Fats Waller was a jazz organist, pianist, singer, composer, conductor and conductor of small groups during the 1930s.