At only 5 years old, Anke Chen has been compared to a piano prodigy thanks to her incredible playing ability.

Incredible piano talent

A few months ago, when appearing on the American TV show Little Big Shots, little girl Anke Chen, from Tianjin, China, surprised the entire audience  with her performance . She possesses a natural talent for playing the piano. Even though she has only been practicing for less than 2 years, this 5-year-old girl’s ability to perceive music is comparable to that of pianists who have practiced for many years. immediately.

Anke’s incredible performance at Little Big Shots.

The little girl sat on a chair, her hands gliding over the keys like a true artist with an incredibly confident and cheerful demeanor. The girl surprised everyone with her rare artistic maturity at her age.

Little girl Anke at the piano.

What’s even more surprising is that Anke started playing the piano when she was 3 years old and within just 1 and a half years, she quickly became famous in China with a series of music genres that are difficult for everyone. Older artists such as Beethoven, Bach, Mozart and Tchaikovsky.

On the YouTube page where Chen’s performances were posted, there were many comments expressing admiration and amazement. Among them, one person could not contain his emotions and exclaimed: ” Unbelievably talented! This is the clearest proof that some people are sent to this world with a gift. God’s special gift! She is truly a prodigy and her future will definitely be wonderful! “.

And Steve Harvey, the famous host of Little Big Shots, also had great admiration for Anke Chen after his performance on stage: ” This little star’s music has reached the level of a prodigy. We have never seen anything like it in the history of Little Big Shots .”

“Play the piano because Dad wants to!”

When asked about the reason for learning the piano, little Anke Chen quickly answered that it was according to her father’s wishes. Indeed, when he was a child, his family was unable to afford it, so Anke’s father, Dongzhi Chen, was unable to pursue his dream of becoming a pianist. So he once answered the press that he wanted Anke to continue this dream, wanting to carry out the plan to train his daughter to become a “second Lang Lang” of China.

(Lang Lang is a famous Chinese pianist and he shared in a 2014 interview with the Telegraph that his success was thanks to having a strict father, a “tiger father”. Lang Lang’s father forced him to practice the piano up to 10 hours a day just to be able to enroll in a top music school in Beijing.)

Mr. Dongzhi Chen, Anke’s father, in an interview.

And Anke’s father has invested in him to learn the piano every day, continuously for the past 2 years, since he first started getting involved with music. Every day for 4 hours, regularly and without interruption, Anke practices the piano diligently and passionately. The special thing is that even though it feels like her father is forcing her to learn the piano, for Anke it is her endless joy.

Anke’s father further shared: “A lot of parents let their children try learning everything… but I feel they don’t invest deeply enough in one particular thing. I even feel that they have no direction.” He admits that “it’s possible that Anke will hate her father in the future”, but still sees music as the only way for Anke to realize the value of her life and he hopes his daughter will pursue her passion. This is for life.

After finishing her trip to America on the show Little Big Shots, Anke returned to a life of only revolving around the piano keys. She continues to practice four hours a day, attend classes at the Central Conservatory of Music, perform in concerts and eat dinner with other piano students. In the evenings at home, when having dinner with her father, Anke will let her father watch piano performances on the computer.

Anke possesses great charisma when playing the piano.

Is this parenting method in the right direction?

That is still a controversial question surrounding the story of the prodigy girl Anke Cheng. Because Anke can be compared to a beautiful and free butterfly that can only fly around its father. The girl’s father drew a path and made a plan, and the father and daughter both persevered and diligently followed this path even though it was really difficult. And Anke Cheng was only 3 years old when he began writing to continue his father’s unfinished dream.

Because of this, many Chinese netizens expressed their pity for Anke because she was deprived of her innocent childhood and was no longer free to fly, jump, and play with her peers. They even condemned Anke’s father, saying that he was too strict and extreme in imposing everything on Anke, and at the same time wanted to refute the “tiger father” school that a few people are pursuing today. .

But there are also many others who praise her father’s parenting style. “ How many fathers are willing to raise their children like this, spending a lot of time and money on their children, accompanying and growing up with them ,” a netizen commented.

And there are other agreeing opinions such as: ” Those who say that Anke’s biological father is selfish do not understand his love for his child. Having fun throughout childhood does not necessarily lead to a beautiful future, but this child will never feel lost about his future .

“ If she is truly happy playing the piano and definitely wants to become a famous artist in the future, then I think there is no reason to condemn her father .”

But no matter what public opinion is, Mr. Dongzhi shared that he will continue to walk on the predetermined path with his daughter. In an interview, he expressed: “If in the future she chooses an administrative job from 9 am to 5 pm, for example in a musical instrument store, then I will consider it a failure!”.