A prodigious talent steps forth for the Festival of Youth Orchestras

THE Festival of Youth Orchestras takes place at the National Concert Hall in Dublin on Saturday. Along with groups from all over the country, Cork School of Music’s Chamber Orchestra will be taking to the road.

And tucked away amid his friends and fellow-performers will be a young lad of 15, described by the school’s director, Geoffrey Spratt as the most prodigious talent he’s come across in his entire career.

Kevin Jansson has been studying both piano and violin at the Cork School of Music from the age of six, giving his first recital at 12. In the same year, he was chosen as one of four young Irish students to participate in the Finlay Programme for Gifted Pianists, and this was soon followed by invitations to international music camps and masterclasses — including one with Lang Lang, and three at the Mozarteum in Salzburg.