Pianist born with just four fingers ends up performing at Carnegie Hall

25 May 2018, 14:29 | Updated: 25 May 2018, 16:23

This is the inspiring story of 17-year-old Darrius Simmons, a pianist born with four fingers who ended up performing at Carnegie Hall.

Darrius Simmons, a 17-year-old self-taught pianist and composer from Warren, Ohio, was born with just three fingers on his right hand and one on his left.

He taught himself to play the piano at primary school and has been writing music and playing ever since.

After posting videos of himself playing to Facebook, Darrius was spotted and invited to play at Carnegie Hall alongside South Korean pianist Yiruma, who composed the popular piece ‘River Flows in You’.

Yiruma, (이루마) - River Flows in You

After watching Darrius play, Yiruma said: “It’s just amazing. How can you do that? All those jumps, you must find it really difficult?”, according to Ohio news station WFMJ.

Simmons replied: “It’s not that difficult to me, honestly.”

He told NBC 4 New York: “I listen to a lot of songs repetitively, over and over, and I guess by doing that, I developed an ear. I can play a lot of music by ear.”

The inspiring pianist also had to learn how to press the piano pedals with prosthetics as his legs were amputated when he was a toddler, NBC reports.

Darrius is also a skilled trombonist and a member of several musical groups at his high school, including his high school jazz and marching bands. He wants to pursue a career in music after high school, and hopes his music will inspire people.

The original clip of Darrius playing piano has now amassed over six million views on Facebook, gaining the musician support from all around the world.

“Still got some work to do but I thought it was time for me to share this piece that I made myself,” Simmons wrote when he posted the video. “It took a lot of hard work but I feel like it paid off by making these song. I hope [you] enjoy watching and listening.”