Child Prodigy Sings Chinese Opera
Nov. 9, 2005 — -- Tyler Thompson is a 10-year-old from Oakland, Calif., with a most unusual talent -- he's winning rave reviews for singing Chinese opera.
Thompson learned to sing at Lincoln Elementary in Oakland's Chinatown, which his mother chose for its high academic standards. A music teacher first exposed him to Chinese opera in the second grade, Thompson said.
"She thought I had a unique voice," he explained.
He's now in the Great Wall Youth Orchestra and Chorus, an extracurricular school group his music teacher founded. He does not speak Chinese and has never been to China.
This past January in San Jose, Thompson performed solo in a Chinese New Year show that was beamed to 1.8 billion viewers in Asia, via Central China Television, in addition to the live audience of 13,000. He has also performed at the Oakland City Hall, the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco and the California State Fair and the San Francisco Symphony's Chinese New Year concert.
When Thompson isn't listening to Chinese opera, the prodigy enjoys the music of Luther Vandross.
For more on the Great Wall Youth Orchestra and Chorus, click here.
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