Summer 2014 TCA: Young Marvels

The Summer Press Tour is now underway, and we've had some NatGeo WILD and Nielsen information so far, but the first specific program being promoted comes from Ovation, and premieres next week. Young Marvels follows eight prodigies in different areas of the arts. Not only will the program showcase their amazing talents, but it will also look at how they balance their duties to school, family, and friends.

I was eleven when I began playing the violin. I played regularly (1-2 hours/day) for seven years, until I went to college. At one point in high school I requested information from Oberlin with the intention of majoring in music performance, and it was only through playing the violin in a pit orchestra that I realized my true passion was in theatre. But, I was never as good as Charlie, who played a short snippet of a cello piece for the journalists.

Charlie, age 12, began playing the cello at 4, and it was an instrument his father chose for him. His older brother plays the violin, and his younger brother plays the piano. The older two boys study at Juilliard, and their father and grandfather are also accomplished musicians. He first realized he was distinctly talents in this area when he was eight, as his emotions began coming out in his playing and he was making strides in technique. One particular to thing to watch for in Charlie's story is the fact that he's both Charles, the serious cellist, and Charlie, the class clown.

Mae Ya, also 12, is a soul singer. She studies at Chicago's Merit School of Music, and had a very different path to music than Charlie. Mae Ya began playing the piano, and when she asked her mother for voice lessons at age 7, her mother was hesitant, having not heard her daughter sing much at home. A year later she began her vocal coaching, and a year after that she was singing for crowds. Her voice is strong and powerful, and the young lady mentioned that she's always sounded like a grown woman, though her voice was much softer just a few years ago. She hopes to become famous and sing for millions of people.

Other featured marvels include an opera singer, a modern dancer, a male ballet dancer, a ballroom dancer, a polgot (8 languages!), and a pianist/organist. I know I'll be checking out the series, and am willing to bet it'll be well worth it - check it out on Ovation premiering July 16th at 10 ET/7 PT.