Preschool pianist's Carnegie Hall debut postponed due to lack of COVID-19 vaccines for children
Brigitte Xie, 4, was supposed to perform at Carnegie Hall in November 2021
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The 4-year-old who was on track for an onstage performance at Carnegie Hall won’t be able to participate in the concert hall’s winners’ recital this year because there are no coronavirus vaccines available for her age group.
Brigitte Xie from Ridgefield, Connecticut, was recently pulled out from the event, according to a report from South West News Service (SWNS).
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Her mother, Nicole Sun, told the news agency that Brigitte isn’t all that disappointed because Carnegie Hall isn’t really on her radar.
"She doesn’t know much, to be honest – I tell her, 'Yeah baby you won the prize,' and she was like 'OK, can we go to Disney store now?'" Sun recalled during an interview with SWNS.
Brigitte Xie, 4, won two piano competitions in spring 2021 when she was only 3-years-old. One of her prizes included a piano recital at Carnegie Hall, which was set for Nov. 22, a spokesperson previously told Fox News. (SWNS)
She went on, "[Brigitte] doesn’t even know what Carnegie Hall is but I tell her, 'You're going to perform in front of many people' and she seemed excited because she likes performing."
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Brigitte earned the honor to perform at Carnegie Hall when she won first place at the Elite International Music Competition and the American Protégé International Music Talent Competition this spring at age 3.
The winners’ recital was scheduled to take place at the famous New York concert hall in November, but the ongoing coronavirus pandemic appears to have interrupted the plans.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}According to SWNS, performers are required to be vaccinated in order to play at Carnegie Hall.
Unfortunately for Brigitte, there are only COVID-19 vaccines available for children age 12 and up at this time while pharmaceutical companies work on developing vaccines for younger age groups.
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Representatives at Carnegie Hall did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment.
Brigitte Xie, 4, won't be able to perform at Carnegie Hall this year due to current coronavirus vaccine requirements that are required for all performers. There are no vaccines available for children under the age of 12 at this time. (SWNS)
Brigitte’s performance has been rescheduled for November 2022, according to SWNS.
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The preschooler first began learning how to play the piano when the pandemic began. Within six months Brigitte learned how to read sheet music and could perform works from Beethoven and Mozart.
Her teacher, Felicia Feng Zhang – the founder of All Talent Academy, told Fox News in June that Brigitte received a First Class Honor grade from the Royal Conservatory of Music Exam Level 1. Zhang said Brigitte is likely the youngest person to take this third-level exam.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Brigitte Xie will hopefully be able to perform at the rescheduled winners' recital at Carnegie Hall in 2022. In the meantime, she's added other accomplishments to her name, her teacher Felicia Zhang told Fox News. (SWNS)
"In this exam: She needs to play three pieces by memory, two pieces read music, technique requirements in major, minor scales, ear training, sight-reading, rhythm clap back, listening and playback and etc." Zhang explained in an email at the time. "She took the exam through Zoom with the judge."
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Zhang went on, "I have taught children from 2.5-years-old and above. Brigitte is also considered [one of] the youngest, since she started her piano lesson just a couple months after her [third birthday]."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Brigitte turned 4 on June 19. She will hopefully be able to make her Carnegie Hall debut next year at the age of 5.