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WATCH: Amazing 11-Year-Old Piano Player

Have you seen or heard the story of this 11-year-old in Denver, Colorado area who is an amazing piano player? His name is Jude Kofie, and he is an autistic child. He…

Side view of grand piano
TA via Getty Images

Have you seen or heard the story of this 11-year-old in Denver, Colorado area who is an amazing piano player? His name is Jude Kofie, and he is an autistic child. He has had some serious medical issues throughout his young life, but he remains positive and fun-loving. And, on top of all that, he is an other-worldly piano player.

He was ten when Denver's ABC-7 did a news story about him. The family had an electronic keyboard in their basement, and one day Jude's father Isaiah heard someone playing the instrument at an expert level. He was shocked, because his son had never been taught how to play the piano. Never had a piano lesson. Yet, he was playing like a master. So, he did what any proud and surprised parent would do nowadays. He grabbed his phone and recorded a video of his son. He posted the video online, and it went viral.

Pretty amazing young man, don't you think? Sure, most of us have seen the 1988 film Rain Man starring Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise. We learned that autism can sometimes give a person savant-like abilities. In the film, the autistic character portrayed by Hoffman was incredible with numbers and mathematics. In Jude Kofie's case, the piano keyboard just makes sense to him.

There is more to this story though. After Jude's story was aired on Denver's ABC-7, a piano tuning expert in the area named Bill Magnusson saw the broadcast. He called the television station to learn more about this young man with Mozart-like talent. Jude's family could not afford to purchase a grand piano for him, so Mr. Magnusson decided to use his inheritance money to help Jude pursue a musical career by gifting he and his family a grand piano!

Now, that is certainly a heart-warming story to start your New Year!

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Larry Martino is the long-time Afternoon Drive personality on 96.3 KKLZ. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of Larry Martino and not necessarily those of Beasley Media Group, LLC.

Larry Martino has been the afternoon drive personality on 96.3 KKLZ since 2007. He is also Music Director and Assistant Program Director. He’s been a professional radio broadcaster since 1980, serving as on-air talent, Program Director, and Music Director during his career. As a content creator for 96.3 KKLZ, Larry specializes in writing articles about music, recording artists, movies, food/restaurants, and hockey.