This 12-year-old violin prodigy can play Wieniawski Variations better than you

18 January 2018, 17:41

This is when you realise that no matter how much you practise, you might never be as talented as a 12-year-old violinist like Soo-been Lee.

Soo-been Lee is a 17-year-old violinist, who five years ago posted this amazing performance of herself playing Wieniawski’s Variations on an Original Theme at a junior music competition.

The Variations, from the composer’s Op. 15, are notoriously difficult to play – but 12-year-old Lee makes his work look terrifyingly easy.

“I get nervous before each performance,” she told the JoongAng Sunday. “If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be human. I get nervous 10 minutes before showtime, but when I do some breathing exercises and pray, I feel better.”

Then, she says she forgets all about it. “When it’s all done, I can’t even remember how nervous I was beforehand.”

The real tragedy is that Soo-been Lee only came in second place in this competition (which begs the question, how amazing was the kid who came in first place?!).

Soo-been Lee’s doing pretty well now, though – have a look at what she’s up to here.