The Story of a Child Prodigy: I am Not a Rock Star

APPLAUSE

Actually, I think it's a huge mistake to play Bach to start with.

Why? I'll tell you why. Because, you know, this is a 15-minute audition.

You need to make a statement. You need to impress the jury.

And what would you like me to make an impression with?

Well, I think in my mind you would start

with probably a Rachmaninoff sonata.

Are you BLEEP insane?!

I love music.

MAN SPEAKS IN FRENCH

Maybe I don't always love practising,

maybe I don't always love myself, but I always love music.

I'm serving something higher. You know, it's my religion.

It's, you know... I really do believe

it's the most beautiful thing in the world.

APPLAUSE

MAN: Bravo! Bravo!

HE SPEAKS FRENCH

HE SPEAKS FRENCH

APPLAUSE

OK, I'm ready.

SHE SIGHS

Moszkowski, Schumann, Scarlatti.

I'm tired.

My bed!

SHE SIGHS

SHE HUMS MELODY

You should sing a fifth first and then just take it down.

Same thing. SHE HUMS MELODY

Marika's spending Valentine's Day in New York City.

Yeah. In a classroom. Yeah!

That's Carnegie Hall.

Have you ever played there? Yes, I played two times there.

So... Is it nice to walk back by it?

Well, yeah, but I see it every weekend. THEY LAUGH

Yeah, but the important thing is to play in it. Play there. HE LAUGHS

IN FRENCH

Do you spend a lot of time waiting when you come?

Yeah, well, usually what I do is...

I'll just wait until I take to her lesson and then...go.

Nothing else I can do.

OK, you know... I started really badly.

Well, what happened is that your guitar is stuck.

MARIKA LAUGHS You know, you're strumming the air

instead of strumming the strings.

You're doing this and...

Yeah, this has to sound like...

Like a very energetic strumming of a guitar.

Marika's a very intense kid

and intensity is...is a two-edged sword.

Just relax and just play.

If she plays a wrong note, she gets so angry with herself

that that's all you can see.

I mean, if she could hit herself she would!

See, now you sound like something,

because you sound like you have character in the playing instead of fear. Uh-huh.

How did it go? It went well.

I just got my grade report from Pre-Coll Division.

And it's pretty good.

I have As, that means honours,

so...I'm happy, yeah. HE LAUGHS

A nice way to finish the day.

ALL SING IN FRENCH

WOMAN SPEAKS IN FRENCH

APPLAUSE

Air Canada to Montreal passenger Marika Bournaki.

Please would you go to gate 320.

When I listen to Marika play...

I find that she has this beautiful tonality.

She has something that cannot be taught.

You learn technique, you learn peddling,

you learn to read music, but you don't learn heart.

Heart is something which you have to feel, you just sense.

THEY SPEAK FRENCH

MARIKA:

HE LAUGHS

Non!

Sometimes...I just don't really want to practise

or maybe I'm better off being in Montreal, being with my friends

and having fun and go to parties,

but in the end I really like what I do.

I'm sure it can bring me really far.

And it makes me happy and people around me happy, so why not do it?

APPLAUSE

HE SPEAKS FRENCH

Stupendous. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much.

Excellent. Excellent.

Excellent. Amazing. I have grandchildren

and I try to get them to learn, but...

I mean, that has to be... That's a gift.

Sure. I liked your pretty hands. MARIKA LAUGHS

Thank you.

Thank you very much. Thank you.

The instruction enclosed.

SHE SPEAKS FRENCH

THEY LAUGH

"Press card. Apply pressure."

Yes!

ALL: Surprise!

LAUGHTER

ALL CONVERSE IN FRENCH

LAUGHTER

"Apply pressure..." "Apply pressure on left and right sides with arms."

LAUGHTER

"Think about how special you are to so many people."

ALL: Awww!

"Marika, during the course of these two years

"we've seen you grow and become who you are today.

"It's hard to let someone go so soon, but we know that this

"will help you and you will be

"the great pianist that you deserve to be someday.

"Not having you around will be... will be a big change

"and will be the empty space in our group at our lunch table."

Aww! "We still can't believe that all this is ending so fast

"and, in short, just know that we will no doubt miss you.

"Also remember to be true to yourself

"and don't be afraid to show anyone the real Marika."

'APPLAUSE'

I hate brushing my teeth.

SHE GROANS

There's this song, I don't know if you know it,

Jack Johnson, Banana Pancakes.

And it's like, well... I'll just play it.

But, basically, it's says go back to sleep.

So it's like... My mum was listening to it and she was, like,

"This is what you listen to in the morning? This is not good."

# So can't you see that it's just raining

# Ain't no need to go outside. #

MUSIC PLAYS

SHE LAUGHS Oh!

# Ain't no need to go outside

# Baby, you hardly even notice

# When I tried...

It's always hard to move away, I think.

When I first moved here,

I wasn't used...to be on my own

and doing everything on my own.

You know, not having my parents drive me.

I had to figure out, you know, how to travel.

It was an hour at first, but, you know, like, go to school,

the train, I had to figure out the train system.

I had no-one to show me.

Ow!

I swear I will fall in front of you.

See, it's very tidy. It's very... SHE LAUGHS

Whoops!

I think I know myself better, because I'm, you know, by myself.

I get a lot of time with myself, you know,

to think about my likes and dislikes.

And also I get to do whatever I want to do whenever I want to do.

I used to actually care what I looked like.

"Oh, I know what I'm going to wear...my sweat pants!"

SHE LAUGHS

# Waking up too early

# Maybe you could sleep in

# Make you banana pancakes See?

Oh! Why?!

Pretend like it's the weekend now.

SHE LAUGHS

Ohh!

Shit! I suck at life!

# There ain't no need to go outside

# Just so easy when the whole world

# Fits inside of your arms Stop!

# Don't really need to pay attention to the alarm

# Wake up slow

# Wake up slow. #

It's like... It's all the same level. Yeah.

Yeah. All right, so what do you do about it?

I...change it.

Right. But you can't change it when you're sitting there going...

And now change up.

Do you think this should be...?

No.

Everything you do wrong is on your face immediately,

whether it's a sound you don't like,

whether it's a note that you missed,

whether it's just fumbling a trill or something,

whether it's just fumbling a trill or something,

it's immediately on your face.

Seriously.

Marika is definitely a colt.

A very vibrant and a very energetic one.

She does need to be tamed sometimes.

But, you know, sometimes you wonder how much taming you want to do,

because you don't want her to lose that spirit.

SHE SIGHS

# Ain't no need, ain't no need

# Rain all day and I really, really, really don't mind

# Can't you see, can't you see

# You got to wake up slow. #

OK...we're going.

Ooh! Caramel!

Would you like some caramel?

Home-made.

THEY SPEAK IN FRENCH

MARIKA SIGHS

HE SPEAKS FRENCH

THEY CONVERSE IN FRENCH

# YMCA! # SHE LAUGHS

We are going to Ottawa.

Or Getsno. Where? Yeah. Same thing.

I mean, Getsno is right on the other side of the Ottawa River.

And why are we going today though? Well, what do you think?

Oh, yeah, to practise on Glenn Gould's piano! Ooh!

Ooh!

HE LAUGHS

I'll get a full scholarship to go to college.

Oh, yeah. I'll get to the top of the list, I'll be number one.

And I'll get all the money, scholarship.

Well, you know what... that would be nice.

I know.

C'est ca? That's not what it sounded like.

HE HUMS MELODY

THEY BOTH HUM MELODY

OK. That's what it was? Yeah.

Oh, my God! Look at his sunglasses!

Unbelievable! Do you have them with you?

See, it's like it could be one of them.

SHE LAUGHS Look at this. It's unbelievable!

I should... It's exactly the same style

as the last one down there, the red one. Can I have them, please?

Wow! Right?

Playing on Gould's famous and favourite Steinway piano,

we have a treat for you, 16-year-old musical star Marika Bournaki

will perform the prelude

of Johann Sebastian Bach's English Suite No.2 in F minor.

APPLAUSE

SHE LAUGHS

Wow! Oh, yeah!

Well, we have the same taste in sunglasses. I mean, yeah.

SHE LAUGHS AND SIGHS

Ooh!

She remembers me from earlier than I do remember her.

No. Yeah.

Did you think he was cute when you first saw him? No.

Of course.

Now I just go on my knees and I ask, "Will you marry me?"

No.

CHATTER

I've never seen my dad play in this kind of setting ever.

So this is a first.

I'm excited.

See, now he's nervous. He's practising, huh?

Yeah, yeah. What about me when I want to warm up?

I have to scout pianos in hotels.

SHE LAUGHS

When you're a pianist, you sit at the piano,

but I remember when I was younger, like, when my knees were shaking.

And, you know, when you're standing up, you feel it much more than when you're sitting.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

TV PLAYS

It's like going to a job interview.

If an important agent books you everywhere in the world,

I mean, you're starting your career.

So, yes, it's potentially a career maker.

What if I suck?

Well, they either say...

"Thank you very much," or they say,

"Even if you sucked, it sounded pretty good."

SHE LAUGHS

Probably. Where? House management. Here.

I'm so BLEEP tired.

I don't think you realise how dirty this is.

Like, let me complain.

Do you see how dirty this is? Do you see how this is dirty?

Do you see how dirty this is?!

HE SIGHS I've never seen a place like this!

How am I supposed...

How am I supposed to sleep? SHE SOBS

It's the same crap, it's just because it's brown you can't see it!

It's so BLEEP ghetto!

What the BLEEP?! Marika.

Where's the light?

Oh.

Just sleep...and be ready for your rehearsal.

Uh-huh.

Yesterday she didn't sleep at all,

so we basically went through two days without sleeping.

Me and David...

I'm with my boyfriend every day, I see him every day

and when I leave, I feel like I'm leaving somebody behind.

But, I mean, that's fine. Like, I'm in London. What the hell.

Why am I complaining?

I was just thinking, like, the image of a college student

is, like, jeans and a big sweatshirt, you know, it's...

Yeah, more relaxed. Comfort.

So it's kind of like...

No, I mean, in a way, for you, it's just that you dress like this

just the way you want every day. I mean, it's stages.

And then when you have a concert, you have to have, like... You know,

it's like Superman. I mean, just... You put your suit on.

Catwoman, I would like. OK, Catwoman. Sorry about that.

No, but I'm talking about my personal style.

Concert is not my personal... Well, it should be. Yeah.

Yeah, it should be, because I think you're also making a statement

when you dress in a certain way when you play a concert.

Yeah. You know?

It looks really bad! It looks really bad.

It-It looks cheap.

This looks cheap. It looks like a maid outfit.

I don't want to look for concert clothes, it pisses me off.

I don't understand this whole BLEEP obsession.

There's no obsession, I look fine.

OK, I have pretty blonde hair. It's fine.

You leave me alone.

One of the questions they'll probably ask you on Tuesday is...

why do you want to be a concert pianist?

Uh-huh.

What do you enjoy about being a concert pianist?

Nothing.

Well, do you enjoyed the practising?

Yeah. OK, so...that's one part of... that's one part of the answer.

What else?

I can bullshit, but that's about it. OK. So what's the bullshit?

That I like to perform, that I like to get ready for a performance.

I get very motivated.

I want to communicate something to the public.

I'm not just playing for myself in the practice room,

but finally it's kind of the gratification

when you get to play for the public.

You have to play for other people and share what you've been working on.

Actually, it's funny because this is the answer you would give when you were, like, 13 years old.

I know, but that's because I was... SHE LAUGHS

You were mature then than now? No, it's not mature. I was set up.

You set me up. I set you up? Yeah, I had, like, a written...

I never told you. Yeah, you did, like, kind of.

Like, I had a written answer to say.

It's kind of how it was tweaked. But now it's not how I feel at all.

I don't want to travel, I don't want...

I see it as the compromise.

I like to play for myself, I like to learn.

Is this because you are attached too much to New York? No!

It has nothing to do with that.

It just has to do with that I'm not 12 any more

and it's not about playing and signing autographs

and, like, thinking I'm so cool because I'm going to places

and I'm missing school.

You know, it's like... I like my routine, I like to practise,

I like to, you know, play for a couple of people.

I'm not...like a rock star.

I think there are some challenges as a woman that you don't have as a man.

I've noticed, for example, that since she's been dating David, that...

And especially now I've had a chance to see them together, it's nice.

Look, she has to go through those things.

That's what life is all about.

But clearly, you know, when you get...

How will I put it?

Emotional, but in a soft way, I think it takes a bit...

some of your edge off,

you know, what you're doing career-wise.

Don't clap. OK.

HE HUMS MELODY

Shut up!

Slow. OK.

OK, so tell me what your strategy is right now for Marika?

Strategy? In terms of what?

For her career? Oh, basically, I just want to keep her, you know, as calm as possible.

Not now! I know, but whatever!

I think I'm being sick.

SHE SPLUTTERS OK.

This is Marika Bournaki.

I'm supposed to be playing in the hall this morning.

'OK.' OK, thank you.

We got some good feedback.

They want to establish, you know, a good relationship, trust,

and plan ahead, because it's not going to be, you know, a short...

Invest, huh? Yeah. Invest in the future.

And they were giving an example of an artist they've taken on.

What was it, like, 2002, I think. Yeah.

And that is just starting now to really emerge.

So as an example of how they like to invest for the longer term.

And take things...

not necessarily in a slower pace,

but take time to build...to build the career.

So are you proud of Marika?

If I'm...? Sorry? Proud! Of course I'm proud. I'm always proud of her.

Uh-huh. She did good today.

BIRDSONG

I haven't been, like, in Montreal for summer

in, like, five years or something.

But I'll be going in and out of the city. But it's OK, it feels OK.

My room's a mess right now.

I have clothes everywhere and my mom's stuff everywhere because she's moving out soon.

And...I don't know, it doesn't really feel like my room,

cos I haven't been in here for so long.

But...it's OK.

HE SPEAKS IN FRENCH

THEY SPEAK FRENCH

I just hit the piano?!

HE SPEAKS FRENCH

OK. It's OK.

Well, my parents officially got divorced in April, officially.

But they've been talking about it since September.

And it was actually really funny because just, like, two nights ago,

we actually talked about it and nobody's talked about it.

And any time I come home,

my mom kind of blamed me a little bit about,

"Since you've been gone, everything's been different."

You know, stuff like that.

I am going to the YCA office, which I hope won't be a problem

cos it's Saturday, but I'm just going to drop off my CDs.

'The YCA, Young Concert Artists, organises auditions every year.

'For the people that they name as winners, they really help to make

'it through the next step of getting major management in their careers.'

This is so creepy, you can see inside!

OK.

'It can be very important if you win.'

You have winners of these auditions that became

very, very successful artists.

The jury will ask you which piece you would like to perform first

and then they will request other works.

The audition altogether is about 15 minutes. C'est ca.

So, my point is, coming back to Bach...

Yes.

Is that, you know...

No, no, you shouldn't.

You shouldn't. Are you kidding me?

You shouldn't. Are you kidding me?

I am not kidding you at all. I am not kidding at all.

Actually I think it's a huge mistake to play Bach to start with. Why?

I'll tell you why, because this is a 15-minute audition,

you need to make a statement, you need to impress the jury.

And what would you like me to make an impression with?

I think, in my mind, you would start with probably Rachmaninoff's sonata.

Are you BLEEP insane? Not at all.

Do you understand you have 15 minutes to make yourself

feel comfortable and establish yourself?

No, it's your choice.

In the end, you're the one who decides, but I'm telling you,

I mean, these people will be auditioning 100 people.

I'm not a robot, you know,

and I think that that's what the hardest part is.

It's kind of, you have to put it on automatic sometimes,

without it being automatic, you know, the whole practising thing

and the whole, you know, giving up everything

and, you know, life gets in my way, that's what happens to me.

I mean, I've been preparing for YCA for...

very seriously for, like, a month and a half.

So, you want to do this? OK.

I might mess up or, you know, just...

Any more disclaimers?

Um, no, I think I'm good.

I might mess up also a lot, but, OK.

You just said that.

Veda, she gave me a lesson and I tell her,

well, this is coming up in a week and a half, and then she freaks out.

See, this is the problem.

Off-camera, please.

"How can you? Why do you do this and...?" So then she tested me.

She asked for the things that were the weakest.

My confidence went all out and, again,

I was in this vulnerable position which she always puts me in.

When did you play this? You performed this? Yes.

I played a lot of things, a lot wrong.

Yeah, you're still playing a lot of things wrong.

She proved to me in any way that I am not 100% ready

and, like, my dad was disagreeing, that's why also it was heated.

"What are you talking about?"

It's not just a business, it's not just about making money.

It's about more than that, you know?

And once I'm more than that, that's when it's going to happen.

So I'm still mad at him and he's like, "Yeah, but it's your fault."

It's not my fault.

It is my fault, maybe, that I wasn't good enough.

Maybe it's my fault I wasn't prepared, but

it's not my fault that he decided to set up this thing against

even maybe his better judgment or against my teacher's judgment.

Sometimes I call him because I discover a beautiful thing,

and he wants it...

I'm talking to him about it and he wants to get over to,

"How was practice? How was this? How was that?"

You know, of course it's because he cares and he wants me to

be able to make a career because he knows how hard it is

and because he didn't make it,

but it's, like, at some point, you kind of have to rise above all that

and, you know, understand it's not about that.

What were you trying to tell him about?

I was telling him about a song, Schumann song.

I was talking to him about Frauenliebe Und Leben.

It's a song cycle by Schumann and I listened to it and I cried

in class because it was so beautiful and it was so sad.

And I called him to tell him about that and he was talking to me about

YCA, you know? And it was like, I don't care about YCA.

I don't care.

I don't know why I'm crying but it's true, I don't care.

And it's always about...

you know,

my career and concerts and how people think I sound

and, you know, managers and, you know...

It's not about that. It's SO not about that.

What class is this?

My class?

My goal now is to make classical music more accessible.

That is something that I can do because of who I am,

because of my personality.

I'm experimenting with the lighting and the set design,

projections on stage while I play,

making concerts more interactive with the public

and with other artists on stage,

playing in centres, playing for causes.

It is all part of creating and bringing music

and sharing music with different people all around the world.

And whether it's in, again, big classical venues or

if it's in different places, it doesn't matter,

it's really bringing and sharing things together through music.

She was, as we always expect with Marika, amazing.

The brightest and the best.

I think Marika is one of those people.

APPLAUSE

Hello. Ca va? Oui.

Whoo!

APPLAUSE

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

# There was a house halfway round the world

# And I was invited in for a small taste of gin

# There was a hall a thousand birds long

# But the biggest one of all was in a cage too small

# I asked the caretaker cos he was the Maker

# He looked at me and laughed, took another sip from his glass

# And said, Open up your ears and hearts

# You put a big bird in a small cage and he'll sing you a song

# That we all love to sing along... #