Akim Camara is a German

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

ist

child prodigy A child prodigy is defined in psychology research literature as a person under the age of ten who produces meaningful output in some domain at the level of an adult expert. The term is also applied more broadly to young people who are extraor ...

who began playing at the age of two."The Miracle Child from Berlin"

Music career

Akim Camara was born in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

to a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

father and a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

mother. In May 2003, at two and a half years of age, Akim received violin lessons by instructor Birgit Thiele at the

Marzahn-Hellersdorf Marzahn-Hellersdorf () is the tenth borough of Berlin, formed in 2001 by merging the former boroughs of Marzahn and Hellersdorf. Geography It is situated in the northeast of Berlin. Marzahn-Hellersdorf borders to the Berlin boroughs of Lichtenbe ...

School of Music. Akim's teacher began instructing the toddler twice a week in 45-minute sessions. After six months of this training regimen, Akim had his debut performance in December 2003 at the age of three in a

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

concert "''Schneeflöckchen, Weißröckchen''" put on by the

School of Music. Birgit Thiele and the music school principal, Gudrun Mueller, told

André Rieu André Léon Marie Nicolas Rieu (; is a Dutch violinist and conductor best known for creating the waltz-playing Johann Strauss Orchestra. Rieu and his orchestra have turned classical and waltz music into a worldwide concert touring act. He r ...

, through the celebrity

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

violinist's website, about Akim's talent. Rieu sent a camera crew to

to film Akim's playing. He then invited Akim to his studio in

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; li, Mestreech ; french: Maestricht ; es, Mastrique ) is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, along with his parents and grandparents. Within two weeks, in July 2004, Akim was performing with Rieu in concert at Kerkrade's

Parkstad Limburg Stadion The Parkstad Limburg Stadion () is a football stadium in Kerkrade, completed in 2000. With a present-day capacity of 19,979 seats, the stadium was officially opened on August 15, 2000, with a friendly between Roda JC and Real Zaragoza (2–2). ...

filled to near max capacity. After performing a "water trick," Akim then performed Ferdinand Kuchler's violin concertino in G, opus 11 followed by a brief encore performance. Following the performance, Rieu took Akim under his wing, paying for his musical lessons on both

and

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

. After an interview and appearance on a Danish TV show, Akim performed once again with

. Akim has since performed on television with the likes of

Wolfgang Fischer __NOTOC__ Wolfgang Fischer (11 December 1888 – 1 February 1943) was an officer in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II. He was killed on 1 February 1943 near Mareth in Tunisia when his staff car drove into a poorly marked Italian ...

and

Richard Clayderman Richard Clayderman (; born Philippe Pagès , 28 December 1953 in Paris) is a French pianist who has released numerous albums including the compositions of Paul de Senneville, Olivier Toussaint and Marc Minier, instrumental renditions of popular ...

. He later became part of the orchestra Deutsche Streicherphilharmonie. There he met Martha Roske (viola), Sophia Eschenburg (violin) and Paula Eschenburg (cello), and together they formed a quartet ("Lieberman quartet"). They won a second prize at the German youth music competition

Jugend musiziert ''Jugend musiziert'' is a music competition for children and adolescents in Germany on regional, federal and national level. ''Jugend musiziert'' in Germany In Germany, the nationwide competition refers to young adults up to 20 years and for the ...

, and performed concerts across

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and in the

Baltic States The Baltic states, et, Balti riigid or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Camara, Akim German people of Nigerian descent Living people Child classical musicians German classical violinists Male classical violinists 21st-century classical violinists 21st-century male musicians Year of birth missing (living people)