Farrah Sa'adullah... The Child Pianist

Thanks to web archives, I can still find some of my old articles. It's quite nostalgic considering the website (i-asianwomen.com) has long been gone. If you are wondering why I am digging up my old articles to put on this blog, the entire story is here.

Here's one article (made up of 2 parts) about a talented pianist called Farah. I interviewed her via email. She was just a girl when I interviewed her but she's probably a young lady now. Her story is also interesting in that it was a dream that spurred Farah, a child of mixed parentage, to take up the piano. And like all prodigies, her story reflects how awesome this world really is!

I've been so privileged to meet, interview and talk to countless people when I was the editor of i-asianwomen.com.

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Farrah Sa'adullah... The Child Pianist (Part 1)

Born in Sydney on Australia Day (which coincidentally, was also Chinese New Year's Eve) in 1990, Farrah was always a settled and calm baby. Her dad, Alwi Sa'adullah and mum, Susan Au, attribute her gentle temperament to the 1920s 'keronchong' music which was played in their house before Farrah was born. Both Alwi and Susan - from Singapore - have been living in Australia since 1980s.

Her dad recounts Farrah's keen interest in music which began when she was three.



Farrah Sa'adullah....Following her many successes in eisteddfods at such a tender age, the Sydney Morning Herald did a special feature in June 1995 and called her a child prodigy.


"We were browsing at Braschs (a shop selling musical and electronic equipment, music books and CDs) when Farrah said she wanted to play the piano. We eventually bought one for her."

Strangely, Farrah was relunctant to touch the piano for three months - it seems she was waiting for a teacher. Both Alwi and Susan could not guide their daughter as Susan used to play the organ while Alwi did not have any musical experience. So began the search for Farrah's piano teacher.

"After ringing around for a teacher, we found one close enough to our home. We wanted her to learn the traditional method, but the teachers we contacted all declined, saying she was too young," Alwi says.

Luckily for Farrah, her parents then learned about the Suzuki method, which caters for younger children.

Farrah's musical foray began at three years and 10 months when she was coached by Ms Itsuko Bara, a Japanese music teacher who was sent to Australia to promote the Suzuki method.

Says Alwi proudly, "One month later she performed at a concert, playing a twinkle variation. Her talent was quickly recognised by some of the audience who said she had strong fingers." Some of them even remarked that Farrah would be in the Conservatorium by 12. Seven years later, their prediction seems spot-on as it seems she will be there at 12!

After two months of lessons, Farrah began playing with two hands and could pick up a piece from any bar or note. At four and a half years, she performed at the Sydney Town Hall, playing Ecossaise by Hummel at the Suzuki Showcase Concert. Some teachers said that she produced excellent tone, with remarkable contrast. Ms Itsuko Bara told her delighted parents that Farrah "is full of music."

Past Knowledge of Music

Alwi and Susan then met a widely-travelled Jewish concert pianist cum teacher, Ms Zohara Rotem who noted that Farrah played with a tone that a six month student at that age could not possibly produce. At this point, she indicated that Farrah must have possessed some past musical knowledge - one of her students claimed that he played with Beethoven "in his previous life". Ms Rotem believed that Farrah was Chopin.

"After this chance meeting with Ms Rotem, a number of unusual things happened," Susan remembers.

"Farrah used to play long pieces on the piano by herself. She told us that the pieces had three movements and gave them names that were unknown to us. This stopped when we asked her to play her teacher's pieces rather than 'nonsense'. We did not listen to classical music until Farrah started playing. Had we known about classical music we could have understood what she was saying. Today we only have one of her compositions which she played at four. This we will treasure and one day get her to edit it."

Another mystifying occurrence happened soon after. One evening Farrah approached Alwi and proclaimed, "I was an artiste."

"When her Dad asked her 'What do you mean?', she replied 'I compose and I play'. Dad then asked her 'When?' and she replied: 'A long long time ago.' Following this, on numerous occasions, she told us that 'her father died a long time ago.' Before Farrah was born, Alwi's sister, Tijah, said she dreamt Farrah came to her and said she was a composer. If this is to be true, we await to see her talent in composition. Recently she completed the first movement of a sonata. It sounds good so far," Susan discloses.

Besides this, there were also incidents where Susan and Alwi would see Farrah wake up in the middle of the night and her hands would emulate piano movements.

Alwi says: "In the morning when we told her what we saw, she replied, unhesitatingly: 'X came to teach me. So you met him?' However, we've decided not to disclose the name of the mysterious teacher who came to teach her."

Soon after, Susan and Alwi bought her a book on this composer. They showed her the pictures in the book and surprisingly, Farrah could describe to them that "there was a door there", and "when visitors came they sat in the other room". She also identified the piano she had played. For one of the pieces she was playing, she told them that someone had changed the original composition.

Just as suddenly as they began, Farrah's extraordinary episodes ended when she turned five.

Winning Eisteddfods at Four

As early as four, she began winning first prizes at eisteddfods. In one eisteddfod, Farrah emerged first in the category meant for seven-year-olds. Dr Nikoloi Sokolov, one of Farrah's teachers, compared Farrah to the late world famous concert pianist Vladimir Horowitz; he declared that when Farrah plays, the piano 'sings'!

When Farrah was performing at another eisteddfod at five, the adjudicator said that Farrah's rendition of 'Wild Rider' was the best he had heard in his lifetime as an AMEB (Australian Music Examinations Board) examiner. She also played 'Wild Rider' in a special live broadcast for 2MBS-FM radio station at five.

At another eisteddfod, an adjudicator was so moved that he almost cried upon hearing Farrah play the piu mosso in Chopin's Valse 64 No 2.

At the Suzuki Graduation Concert, her first public concert at the Sydney Opera House, when she was five, Farrah played JS Bach's Gigue from Partita in B flat. The capacity crowd gave her thunderous applause; they had never witnessed such a young girl playing such a difficult piece.

At six, she could play from memory all three movements from three Mozart sonatas K545, K330 and K331 in one sitting. Her performance of Rondo Ala Turca at the Australian Musician Academy Christmas Concert attracted much favourable comments. Farrah also sight read and memorised JSBach's Italian Concerto (2nd movement) in a day.

Farrah won the trophy for the 'Most Promising Instrumentalist' when she was seven. The adjudicator, after seeing her handling of Grade 8 AMEB and above level pieces, decided to present her the trophy on the first day of the eisteddfod itself! The trophy, donated by Ronald MacDonald, is usually awarded to the winner in the Open Championship.

She was also selected to perform at the Sydney Opera House, this time playing the third movement of Bach's Italian Concerto. When she finished, thunderous applause, lasting for more than a minute, filled the hall!

Farrah continued to win many other eisteddfods. Susan recounts, "In another eisteddfod, the adjudicator congratulated us and advised us on her future. She said Farrah's talent is rare."

Susan continues, "We met Professor Kyunghee Lee from the Australian International Conservatorium of Music who found that Farrah had perfect pitch and a mature understanding of music. She said Farrah was godsend after hearing her play the complete Mozart Sonata K331 from memory."

Following her many successes in eisteddfods at such a tender age, the Sydney Morning Herald did a special feature on Farrah in June 1995 and called her a child prodigy. The reporter had earlier heard her play Mozart's minuets and was impressed with the ease and feeling Farrah displayed in those pieces. The Inner Western Courier newspaper featured her when she was six, again calling her a child prodigy; and at eight, calling her Miss Chopin.

When Farrah performed at the Italian Song Festival at nine, the Italian magazine 'SonoSiamo' reported: "Little Farrah amazed the audience the night of the festival when her little fingers danced upon the keys of the piano. It was marvellous experience to listen to the sounds of the pieces Farrah was playing. Each piece more perfect than the other. It is truly astonishing to see such a young child being able to play such complex pieces that it melted the hearts of the listeners! Farrah is a rare child who exceeds the limits of talent!"

Not only is Farrah a musical genius, she is also academically outstanding. She obtained distinctions in Mathematics and English in 1999 and 2000 Competitions. She was the only one from her school to be selected for Opportunity Class, Year 5 (Year 2000) at a gifted school.(Opportunity Classes are for academically-gifted and talented students.) Besides playing the piano, Farrah also plays the violin and sings.


Dr Nikoloi Sokolov, one of Farrah's teachers, compared Farrah to the late world famous concert pianist Vladimir Horowitz; he declared that when Farrah plays, the piano 'sings'!

by Krista
27th November 2000