\nHe was born with perfect pitch, a talent shared by only one in 10,000 others, and he practises on the piano for eight hours a day. He made his concert debut, on the piano and cello, at six – the same age as Mozart was in 1762 when he gave his first performance.
\nAt the Proms, Marc will perform a duet with Chinese pianist Lang Lang, playing Schubert\u2019s Fantasia in F minor.
\nDressed in traditional white tie and tails, he finds it easier to lean against the piano stool rather than sit on it to perform.
\nMarc, from California, said: \u2018The problem is that my legs aren\u2019t straight. They bend a little, so I have to get very close to the piano and stretch my legs to reach.\u2019
\nMarc started playing the piano at a friend\u2019s birthday party in Los Angeles when he was only two. As children sang Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, he toddled over to the piano and started playing the tune. It astonished his Macau-born mother, Chloe, because that was the first time he\u2019d been near a piano. He never looked back.
\nSix months later, Marc gave his first public recital, playing Beethoven. After his concert debut at six he won a \u00a325,000 university fellowship the same year.
\nMarc, an only-child, credits his 34-year-old mother \u2013 a single mum until recently \u2013 for nurturing his amazing musical talent because she played Beethoven CDs to him when he was in the womb.
\nHe was recently featured in a National Geographic TV special At the Proms he will perform a piano duet with Lang Lang, a superstar in the classical music world who is as popular in the West as in his native China.
\nMrs Yu said home-schooling gives Marc the flexibility to travel and perform, while allowing him to learn at his own pace.
\nShe said: \u2018What other children learn in eight hours a day he can squeeze into 30 minutes or an hour. This way, he can learn whatever he is interested in at that moment.\u2019
\nNow he also studies music composition part-time at the prestigious Colburn Music Conservatory in Los Angeles, and flies once a month to China for lessons at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music.
\nMarc said: \u2018I like playing music because it has a lot of different feelings \u2013 expressive, sad, excited and happy. I like playing difficult pieces, especially those that my teacher says no to.
\n\u2018Practice makes perfect. You don\u2019t want a Beethoven piece to sound like something else. That\u2019s disrespectful to the composer.\u2019
\nHis mother insisted Marc is no bookworm. He likes playing in the park with other children his age, and recently developed a keen interest in card tricks \u2013 and gambling games like blackjack and poker.
\nMrs Yu said: \u2018Sometimes his energy drives me crazy because he is running around or jumping up and down just seconds before he goes on stage. I would be like, \u201cCan you please just meditate or calm down or shut up for two minutes?\u2019 But he can\u2019t.\u2019
\nIn his music, it\u2019s not just short legs that cause problems. Marc desperately wants to play Rachmaninov\u2019s second and third concertos, but they require a full eight-note spread across the piano keys and his hands are not yet big enough. \u2018It will be four or five years before his hands reach,\u2019 said his mother.
\n\u2018No it won\u2019t,\u2019 said Marc. \u2018Things will be easier when I grow just a little bit more.\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"