The Steamboat Pilot & Today

I didn't get a chance to chat with Joshua Cullen-Carrozza on the phone. He's the piano virtuoso making a trip to Steamboat Springs this weekend to perform for the Strings in the Mountains Gala Holiday Concert. At 18 years old, the pianist is being touted as the youngest person ever to graduate with a master's degree from the Juilliard School of Music.

(He pointed out to me how that fact has never been properly researched, but he is the youngest graduating this year.)

I e-mailed Joshua a few questions because he said that interview format would be easier for him. I was expecting short statements in return.

It was a delight to find that Joshua instead gave honest and eloquently written answers. Usually I write a story around quotes given to me in this form, but Joshua's words gave such great insight into the life of the young, talented musician, I changed my plan and presented a brief question-and-answer article.

Nothing I could write was better than his thoughts, coming straight from the source.

The single most important fact that I wanted to know for the story was how it felt being the object of such words as phenom and virtuoso.

He spelled it out pretty clearly in his answer to the first question.

I think our society likes to use the word "phenom" as much as it can for the people who show am incredible talent at a young age.

But it's fairly rare to find out what the labeled "phenom" thinks of that situation.

Lastly, with his incredible achievements that make the teen-ager as unique, I thought it was interesting that Joshua also was going to embark on something conventional. After Juilliard, he's enrolling as a freshman undergraduate student to study liberal arts, just like many other graduating 18-year-olds.