31 Facts About Alma Deutscher

Alma Elizabeth Deutscher was born on 19 February 2005 and is a British composer, pianist, violinist and conductor.

Alma Deutscher made her debut at Carnegie Hall in 2019 in a concert dedicated to her own compositions.

Alma Elizabeth Deutscher was born on 19 February 2005, in Basingstoke, England.

Alma Deutscher is the daughter of literary scholar Janie Deutscher and linguist Guy Deutscher.

Alma Deutscher began playing piano at the age of two, followed by violin at three.

Alma Deutscher could sing in perfect pitch before she could speak, and she could read music before she could read words.

Until the age of 16, Alma Deutscher was educated at home.

Alma Deutscher was registered for a school in England when she was five, but after attending the first orientation day, she came back in tears, and told her parents: "they haven't taught me to read and write".

Gjerdingen sent exercises for Alma Deutscher and commented on technical aspects of her composition, while she had lessons in improvisation with the Swiss musician Tobias Cramm.

In 2017, a CBS-60 Minutes feature with Scott Pelley about Alma Deutscher created a stir and won an Emmy Award.

Alma Deutscher's music has been noted above all for the wealth and beauty of its melodies.

Alma Deutscher herself explained that her melodies often arrive unbidden, including in her dreams.

Alma Deutscher has described a special excited state-of-mind, which she called an "improvising mood".

However, Alma Deutscher has explained in numerous interviews the difference between the spontaneous moments of inspiration, in which she hears melodies in her head, and the laborious process of composing complete polished pieces based on these melodies.

From a young age, Alma Deutscher has repeatedly stated her determination to compose beautiful music and bring back melody and harmony to modern classical music.

Alma Deutscher explained that many people have told her that beautiful melodies are not acceptable in classical music of the twenty-first century, because music must reflect the complexity and ugliness of the modern world.

Alma Deutscher then cited the lullaby by Richard Strauss as her earliest inspiration for creating beauty.

The striking quality of Alma Deutscher's melodies was noticed early on.

Alma Deutscher's melodies were a major theme in the reception of her opera Cinderella since 2016.

Alma Deutscher's first completed opera, from age seven, is a short work inspired by Neil Gaiman's story, "The Sweeper of Dreams", with the text adapted from a libretto by Elizabeth Adlington.

Alma Deutscher's first opera is a full-length work based on the fairy tale of Cinderella, but with significant modifications to the plot, which in her version revolves around music: Cinderella herself is a composer, the prince is a poet, and a haunting melody that Cinderella sings to the prince as she flees from the ball takes the place of the glass slipper of the traditional tale.

Alma Deutscher explained that it was important for her that Cinderella is not just a pretty girl with a dainty foot.

Alma Deutscher has worked on the opera over a period of at least five years, between the ages of nine and fifteen, producing successive expansions and revisions.

Reports about the sold-out performances appeared in newspapers all over the world, and Viennese critics expressed their astonishment at the accomplishment of Alma Deutscher's orchestral writing and at the beauty of her melodies.

Alma Deutscher further elaborated the work for the sold-out US premiere in 2017 at Opera San Jose.

In 2022 Alma Deutscher made her US debut as conductor, in a revival of the 2017 Opera San Jose production of Cinderella.

Alma Deutscher's second full-length opera, "The Emperor's New Waltz", was a commission of the Salzburg State Theatre and premiered there in March 2023.

Alma Deutscher has played her own music as soloist with renowned orchestras across the world, including the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra, Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of St Luke's.

Alma Deutscher has given recitals of her own compositions in the renowned Lucerne Festival and Aix-en-Provence Festival.

Alma Deutscher has appeared on television shows across the world, including The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and NBC Today.

The first album of Deutscher's music, "The Music of Alma Deutscher" was released in 2013 when she was 8.