Calling The Piano winner ‘miracle child’ is insulting, her teacher says
THE music teacher of blind pianist Lucy Illingworth, who won television competition The Piano, said describing her as a miracle is “insulting and dismissive” of all the hard work she has put in over the years.
Classical pianist Daniel Bath has worked with the Brighouse teenager, who is visually impaired and neurodivergent, since she was four, through the musical charity The Amber Trust.
A new Channel 4 documentary, The Incredibly Talented Lucy, follows their journey together, after Lucy won the competition at the age of 13, and performed at the King’s Coronation.
Bath said the media called her “miracle child”, but he added: “I find that really insulting and dismissive to Lucy herself, and also to all the people that work with her.
“It’s not a miracle, it’s just hard work. It’s the same with any musician, to get to that level you just have to put in hours and hours of really hard work.”
He continued: “My aim is that at 18 we’ll get her to a place where she can go to music college, and work with people like Martin Roscoe and really top piano tutors.
“But the whole ‘miracle’ thing is just a way of dismissing people who have disabilities. It’s really unhelpful and it’s lazy.”
He said he was “sceptical” of
Lucy moving into the world of showbiz initially but found the music show to be “very supportive” of her needs.
She starred in the first season of The Piano, which aired last year and in which singer Mika, Chinese pianist Lang Lang and presenter Claudia Winkleman hunt for Britain’s most talented undiscovered pianists.
During the final, she was awarded performance of the night for her rendition of Debussy’s Arabesque No.1.
Bath said that when they first started working together, he would play her classical pieces that she liked, as her mother would play this music for her when she could not sleep.
He said: “She remembered it all – things like Bach and Chopin, really difficult piano pieces."
Under Bath’s tutelage, Lucy has performed at The Royal Festival Hall, The Royal Albert Hall, and last May she performed at the Coronation Concert at Windsor Castle.
■ The Incredibly Talented Lucy is on Channel 4 On Demand.