Musical genius

Derek Paravicini is 27, blind, has severe learning difficulties, cannot dress or feed himself - but play him a song once, and he will not only memorise it instantly, but be able to reproduce it exactly on the piano. One part of his brain is wrecked; another has a capacity most of us can only dream of. Derek, who was born three months premature and brain-damaged, is what is known as a savant.

Since the age of five, Derek has been taught by the music psychologist Dr Adam Ockelford, former director of education at the Royal National Institute of the Blind. Ockelford has now written a book charting their relationship, describing how he channelled Derek's extraordinary ability. Derek taught himself to play on a toy organ given to him when he was two; the problem was that he had never seen, would never see, how a piano was played, so had developed his own style.

"Derek learns things incredibly quickly," Ockelford explains. "When he hears an orchestral piece like The Swan, he can hear all the instruments."

Paravicini is about to make his musical debut with a professional orchestra. He will be appearing with the Emerald Ensemble at St George's, Bristol, on May 12.