When she was three years old, Ifetayo Ali-Landing, a Nigerian-American cellist, switched from playing the violin to playing the cello. So even before she was three, Ifetayo was busy being a classical music master.
Now 14 years old, she’s a student at the Hyde Park Suzuki Institute in Chicago; and she’s a competitive musician who recently won the Junior Division 1st Place Laureate prize at the 2017 Annual Sphinx Competition for her solo performance of Lalo’s Concerto in D Minor with the Sphinx Symphony Orchestra in Detroit.
(Photo: YouTube)
The prize came with a $10,000 cash prize and the opportunity to feature as a soloist with major orchestras, perform with the all black and Latino Sphinx Symphony Orchestra and appear on the prestigious and widely broadcasted talent showcase, From the Top.
She has won numerous awards numerous awards and performed in many showcases including the 2013 Friends of the IPO (Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra) Rising Stars Showcase where at age 10, she recorded the 1st movement of the Saint-Saëns Cello Concerto No.1 in A minor. The performance went viral with over 53,000 YouTube views and 8 million Facebook views.
Ifetayo is definitely on her way to being one of the all time classical music greats!