MONTREAL – Pinchas Antal is in most ways just like other 15-year-old boys except when he sits down at a baby grand and racks up six hours a day practising piano.
The additional one hour on violin is to hone his dexterity and pitch. Every month he visits seniors’ residences like Westmount One, Castel Royale and Place Kensington to work out pieces in front of an audience and give joy to those who can’t come to the concert hall.
It’s an exercise in strengthening his focus when an elderly lady walks by in the middle of a piece, pats him on the shoulder and says, beaming, “Very nice.” He’s also played fundraisers for Beth Zion Congregation and for Yaldei helping children with developmental challenges.
Of course, Antal has wowed the music mavens of Montreal at venues like the prestigious La chapelle historique du Bon-Pasteur where this past November he lured magical sounds from their Fazioli grand concert piano, playing works by J.S. Bach, Brahms, Chopin and Mozart.
When maestro Zubin Mehta came to town as a guest conductor, Antal played for him and earned encouragement that has him hoping for a chance to travel to Israel and play a concerto with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.
The pianist is a millennium baby, the middle child of a large Lubavitcher family. Born in 2000, he was ever curious about the tunes his older brother and sister elicited from an old upright piano handed down from their paternal great-grandmother.
His mother had played piano, as well. By the age of 10 he had learned his scales and was picking out his favourite songs on the keyboard. Lessons at the local Chabad House followed.
Moscow Conservatory educator Vladimir Krassov, who now lives in Montreal, took him under his wing. Soon siblings were doubled up to free a bedroom for not just one piano but eventually two so that Antal could practise with the other instrument playing the orchestra’s part.
Three years ago, Krassov took Antal to Paris to play for his friend, concert pianist Valery Sigalevitch and take a weeklong intensive workshop with him.
“Russian teachers build very strong foundations for musicians if you’re willing to work hard,” says Antal. “Starting at 10 was late. I had to catch up and kept on jumping levels. I ended up playing very difficult and amazing pieces. I memorize everything.”
The young pianist attends Mesifta yeshiva for part of the day. Antal is home-schooled in other subjects by his father Mordechai, who is a teacher and president of the Federation of Teachers of Jewish Schools.
“Playing music comes with a certain responsibility. If you want to accomplish something you have to put in the time and practice,” says Mordechai.
“As long as my children are enthusiastic about it, I’m happy to provide the lessons. I’m grateful they like music in whatever capacity they want to participate. They’ll have it their whole life and it will be a beautiful thing for them to share with their own families when they grow up.”
Antal talks about building a professional career and how “maybe someday my little brother, my little sister and I will become a trio. “He plays violin and she plays cello. Three others play guitar. We try to play pieces together to help each other out.”
The mood of co-operation pervades the home of this musical family.
“You can’t complain about the music when somebody is playing because some other night you’re the one playing,” says Antal who is preparing for his next concert and considering which competitions to enter.
Antal even has an agent now in Glenda Rush of Vivo Musique. When she heard the teen perform, she was “incredibly moved…by the musical emotion coming out of such a young boy.”