Heartwarming moment blind music prodigy Lucy jams with her teacher

This is the heartwarming moment blind piano playing sensation Lucy Illingworth duets with her teacher of 10 years, Daniel, and urges him to sing along.

The pair, who both went viral last year when Lucy stunned audiences on Channel 4’s The Piano, appear in a documentary about the young talent, also on Channel 4.

In the documentary, the close relationship between Lucy, who has a chromosome 16 duplication, and Daniel is explored further as she continues honing her craft after she won the reality TV show.

As their heartwarming friendship is explored, Lucy’s enthusiasm for piano playing, and her fondness for Daniel, is clear as she jubilantly exclaims his name when she hears his voice at the beginning of a lesson.

The Incredibly Talented Lucy also explores Daniel’s desire to protect his pupil, while also trying to ensure her success as she prepares to play at the King’s Coronation Concert.

Music prodigy Lucy Illingworth, who shot to fame on Channel 4’s The Piano last year, jams with her beloved piano teacher Daniel in The Incredibly Talented Lucy on Channel4.com

Lucy Illingworth shot to fame last year when she wowed a crowd at Birmingham New Street train station with her incredible talent on The Piano, and caused judges Lang Lang and Mika to tear up.

Since then she has become an online sensation as people are astonished by her ability to play despite being visually impaired.

Lucy’s mother Candice previously explained her daughter lost her eyesight as a toddler after being born with cancerous tumours in her eyes.

Her phenomenal talent became apparent when she was three years old, and she was gifted a keyboard while she had treatment in hospital.

At the beginning of the documentary, Daniel speaks about ‘the most gifted musician’ he has ever met and his pupil of more than a decade.

Lucy Illingworth, who wowed the nation with her sensational piano playing skills, jams with Daniel in a lesson

The piano playing sensation shot to fame in Channel 4’s The Piano last year when she wowed crowds at Birmingham New Street Station

He says: ‘She was the best thing that ever happened to me.’

Meanwhile, Lucy sits with her school teacher, who is feeding her, and speaks about her upcoming piano lesson at 1.40pm with Daniel.

The pair then sit down as Lucy plays the piano while Daniel plays the guitar, and Lucy orders her teacher to sing.

Filmed after the teenager’s phenomenal success on The Piano which made her famous, Lucy appears to take her new found notoriety in her stride.

‘I don’t think she’s really fussed, the cameras are just there,’ her schoolteacher tells the programme.

As she sits down for her lesson with Daniel, her school teacher says the pair are ‘in tune with each other’.

Although the teenager is unfazed by her fame, her classmates are certainly starstruck.

Lucy is filmed going back to school after the series finale of The Piano, in which she plays at the Royal Festival Hall and ultimately wins the competition.

As she walks into class, one of her peers is heard saying: ‘Please welcome to the stage… Lucy!’

Another of her classmates stands up and applauds her as she walks into class. She tells her friend: ‘Congratulations! Well done! I’m happy! I’m so proud!’

Lucy replies: ‘Thank you so much. So much.’

And Lucy herself is a pretty big fan of her own work, as she claps while she watches her RFH performance on TV.

In another scene when she is playing the piano at home, the cheeky teenager asks her Amazon Echo to play the sound of audience applause before she commences.

Of course, Lucy’s journey to becoming a concert pianist isn’t solely positive; and Daniel expresses his concerns over her vulnerability in the documentary.

At one point, Daniel takes her to a jazz concert in Halifax where he is playing – however, a few songs into her set, Lucy decides she does not want to continue the performance.

While her mother Candice says her daughter is ‘tired’, Daniel blames himself for putting his pupil in the position.

‘She’s not ready for it’ he says. ‘It’s not fair on her.

‘When we do stuff like that it makes me realise how much I project my musical life on Lucy.

‘That’s the problem. I’ve not acted in her best interests.’

However, with lots of preparation and rehearsing, Lucy heads down to Windsor to play at King Charles’s Coronation Concert.

Ahead of the event, Daniel jokes: ‘I’m not sure if Lucy knows who the King is. She knows who Mozart is, and she knows who Stevie Wonder is.’

On the day, Lucy, Candice, her school teacher and Daniel all travel down to Windsor Castle where the event is being held. However, while they are waiting in a hotel ahead of the performance, Daniel is informed he has not passed the security check and must leave the premises.

In a heartbreaking moment, Lucy asks after her teacher as she is led to the staging area by her mother.

Crestfallen, Daniel is forced to watch her play on television. He says he suspects the security issue is down to his involvement with the Extinction Rebellion protest group – but this is never confirmed.

Still, Lucy perseveres without her beloved teacher and friend, and delights the audience, and thousands of television viewers, with her rendition of Bach’s Prelude in C Major.

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