5-year-old prodigy to make history as youngest ever pianist to perform at Carnegie Hall

4 July 2025, 15:39 | Updated: 7 July 2025, 08:58

Five-year-old shows off piano skills

From pre-school to concert hall, this piano prodigy is set to take the stage.

He might struggle to reach the pedals, but a five-year-old pianist is set to become the youngest to ever perform at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

Alec Van Khajadourian began piano lessons age three and half and by the time he turned four he was playing Beethoven and Bach at a recital.

The pint-sized pianist also has perfect pitch, a trait that about only one in 10,000 people have.

Read more: What actually is perfect pitch – and how do I get it?

“He would walk over to the piano when he first started walking, punching a few notes, and you could just see this huge grin on his face,” said Alec’s father, Joe Khajadourian.

“He immediately showed some real promise, and now it’s developed real fast.”

Read more: 10 videos of astonishing child prodigies

Although Alec is partly a regular five-year-old that loves to play around, his parents can’t get him away from the piano.

“He’s still very much just a goofy five-year-old and loves to play all day, but once he gets on the piano, it’s a whole different story," said Alec’s father, "We’re not able to believe he’s able to do that."

“As long as he’s happy and enjoys doing it, we’ll let him keep doing it.”

Alec will appear at Carnegie Hall later this month, as well as at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles.