Some people say that all of our good deeds come back to us in some way. Bill Magnusson hopes that, in the long run, his generosity will benefit not just himself, but the entire world!
Bill is a professional piano tuner from Colorado. Recently, he saw a news story about Jude Nyame Yie Kofie, an 11-year-old from Aurora, Colorado who shocked the world with his prodigious piano-playing skills without ever taking a single lesson.
The newscast told the story of how Jude’s father, who had dreams of becoming a musician himself in his native Ghana, walked into the basement one day and found his son playing a song perfectly on a long-forgotten electronic keyboard. He quickly realized that Jude is gifted; the child can play just about any song he hears, all without ever reading music or even learning which keys correspond with which notes!
The proud father shared a video of Jude playing the keyboard on YouTube, and it went viral.
The viral video earned Jude a lot of attention. He now has well over 10,000 subscribers on YouTube, plays professionally at weddings, and is the lead pianist for his church choir.
All of his success is especially impressive, since Jude had a lot of health problems as an infant. He was born prematurely, needed heart surgery as a baby, and lived with a feeding tube until he was eight. Today, he’s a healthy tween who lives with autism.
As Jude’s musical career took off, the only thing he lacked was a proper piano. That’s where Bill came in!
“[My] first reaction was, ‘This kid is Mozart level,'” Bill recalled of first seeing Jude play. “And he deserves the very best.”
Bill reached out to the Denver television station that aired Jude’s story with an incredible offer. He’d recently gotten an inheritance from his father, and Bill could think of no better way to spend the money than to buy Jude a grand piano.
Jude and his family were thrilled to receive such an incredible gift. They could never have afforded such an expensive piano without Bill’s help! But the piano tuner wasn’t finished ensuring that Jude’s talents got a foothold in the world. He also connected Jude with Mr. Sullivan, a piano teacher who can help hone his craft.
“He’s so eager,” Mr. Sullivan said of his new student. “He’s so hungry to learn more.”
Bill is happy to see his money working to benefit the entire musical world. He truly believes he’s the benefactor of the next Mozart-level prodigy, and that his gift will ultimately help all of humanity. No pressure, Jude!
“The ripple effects for the next 70 or 80 years are incalculable,” Bill said. “It’s not just for him. It’s for all the people he’s going to touch.”
What an altruistic gift! Jude is already putting his grand piano to excellent work by frequently uploading videos to his YouTube channel. We agree with Bill; this is money well-spent.
Watch Jude playing some Beethoven on his new piano in the video below, and don’t forget to share.
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