Precious and The Piano

Precious lives in southeast London with her family (who she laughingly describes as ‘wonderfully wacky’) - and her two cats, Mimi and Rollo. She was born with albinism – a genetic condition where someone has a lack of melanin in their skin, hair and eyes – which also affects her vision.

Now 17, Precious is an accomplished musician who recently appeared on Channel 4’s popular show, The Piano, playing one of her own incredible compositions. She’s currently studying at the UK’s leading school for performing and creative arts, The Brit School, for a UAL Music Performance and Production Diploma.

Music’s been a huge part of Precious’s life since she first started playing the piano as a child. She says, “I took up the piano aged 8, but I was really bad at it because I never practiced and wouldn’t do my scales, no matter how much my teacher nagged me! I gave it up in year 6, but when a boy above me showed how good he was, I was really jealous – so I took it up again in year 7.”

Armed with a new determination, Precious progressed quickly. “I’ve had a few teachers, including a neighbour across the road who specialised in jazz and classical.

“When I began to write my own compositions, my teacher at the time suggested that I needed to find someone who was focused on that area who could provide the right support.”

Having low vision, Precious found reading music was a struggle. “It’s very tiring on my eyes, so I decided that I wanted to learn by ear. I learned some lovely Chopin, and Mozart too, which was fun. I’m learning Mozart’s Fantasia at the moment, as well as more contemporary music like Bartok. I’m getting more difficult pieces now, but my teacher’s doing ‘tough love’ - which means reading modified scores on an iPad Pro screen. I love music so much, and the more effort I put in, the easier it gets. I play the organ as well as the piano and I’m currently composing a fugue alongside writing a multitude of piano pieces.”

Having been introduced to RSBC when she attended sports sessions at nine years old, Precious was soon to discover that the charity presented lots of opportunities for her to indulge her passion for music, performance and the arts in general. “I’ve been to performances at the Albert Hall, a theatre show, and an amazing ballet at the Royal Opera House promenade performance. That was great for people with low vision, because you could get so close. I’ve also attended a series of art sessions at Down House, Charles Darwin’s historic home, which had some really cool pieces.”

In addition, Precious has recently been to a cookery session at RSBC’s Life Without Limits Centre in London, but she admits that cooking’s not something she’ll be doing for her family just yet!

Of her experience with RSBC, she says, “I’d definitely recommend that children and young people with vision impairments get in touch with them. I’ve loved meeting and connecting with some very cool people because of the charity, including volunteers and members of the RSBC team who have vision impairment. I looked up so much to some of them when I was younger – they must have found me quite annoying!”

This year has already been one to remember for Precious, thanks to her appearance on The Piano. “My mum filled in the application form, and I got really anxious when I was chosen - I felt that I’d be terrible!” she recalls. “My teacher wasn’t helping me with my piece, which I’d composed myself. I was very stressed, but it ended up being a really fun experience.

I auditioned at the Royal Academy, and I did feel quite intimidated, especially because I was playing a different piano and I rely on how my fingers feel on it to play well. But the experience was well worth it – it was amazing!”

Precious admits that she was very nervous when she was preparing for the recording of the programme in Liverpool Street station in London, too. “I was in a practice room with the other people who were there to play, and we were getting called randomly to go out and perform. It was pretty intense! But Claudia Winkelman was lovely, and I was actually surprised at how calm I felt when I did start to play.”

The next milestone for Precious is a recital at The Foundling Museum in Bloomsbury in London on 29^th June, where she’ll play 40 minutes of her own compositions. “Anyone who buys tickets to the museum can come along and listen,” she explains. “I’d love lots of people to hear my music.”

In the longer term, Precious says that she just wants to keep on being creative and, in time, she’d like to study at the Conservatoire in London. “That’s all I’d like to do. Just music!” she smiles.

Find out more about Precious’s Foundling Museum session here: https://foundlingmuseum.org.uk/event/sunday-sessions-precious-akindele/