When he runs to meet his piano teacher to give him a hug, he's an 8-year-old boy like so many others.
But while Guillaume Bénoliel sits down in front of the piano, another person is getting ready and warming their fingers to play.
He barely touches the pedals of the instrument but he is already an exceptional musician despite his young age.
"He's a little Mozart" even dares his teacher, Sergei Kouznetsov.
The boy just got third place in the international classical nutcracker music competition in Russia.
Not only is he the first Frenchman to reach the final, but he is also the youngest musician.
Read also Essonne: little genius of the piano, Guillaume, 8 years old, is the youngest finalist of an international competition in Russia
Guillaume made a strong impression on the jury.
Mikhail Voskresensky, one of the greatest Russian pianists and in the world, spoke for the occasion in French: “Monsieur Bénoliel pleases me very much!
»Triggering Guillaume's immense impressed smile.
From an early age the parents of the little musician discovered his extraordinary musical abilities.
“When I was two, my mother played and sang Brother Jacques on the piano and I repeated it,” explains the little prodigy.
As for his first concert, “he did it at 5, recalls his mother Claire, in front of 500 people.
He had been preparing this moment for a week and played the Harry Potter theme.
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Thanks to his third place, Guillaume Bénoliel, who also has a YouTube channel, will play at the international music festival “Moscow Meets Friends” which will be held from May 23 to June 1 in Moscow.
