Matthew Smith may be a pint-sized 11yr old but don't judge him by his
stature, the kid is a legend in the making. He became Britain's youngest
ever orchestra conductor leading a 75-strong orchestra through a
faultless rendition of the overture to Johann Strauss II’s Die
Fledermaus. What's more, he conducted the nine-minute piece entirely
from memory and wasn't fazed by the 1,300 crowd at the Royal Concert
Hall in Nottingham. Proud mum, Beverlyn Riley, 40 was all smiles as she
watched her son.
His genius was unlocked four years ago when he saw two violinists
performing at the Pentecostal church he attends with his mother and told
her that he wanted to be ‘just like them’. Mrs Riley who works as a
catering assistant at Nottingham High School, approached the school’s
senior string teacher Derek Williams who set Matthew up with an old
violin.
Instinctively, Matthew placed his fingers in the correct
place on the instrument and a star was born. Mr Williams said that
Matthew had ‘music coming out of his pores’. He said the boy had ‘an
inherent natural ability the like of which I have not seen for 30
years’.
Mrs Riley, who is divorced from Matthew’s father Cordova
Smith and has since remarried, said that she had no idea where Matthew
gets his musical ability from, although his father does play the
saxophone.
She added: ‘I’m so proud of what Matthew has done.’
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