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8-Year-Old Quincy Girl To Perform At Carnegie Hall

QUINCY (CBS) - While most second graders are just learning how to play an instrument, eight-year-old Lily Chen of Quincy is mastering it. "I want people to know that I love music," Lily said.

She's loved music ever since she was one year old, when her parents first saw her pick up a microphone. "And she starts singing and making up the song and no real recognized words," her dad Yong Chen said.

Lily Chen
Lily Chen (WBZ-TV)

The parents knew that it was the start of something very special. "I first saw my brother playing and I liked the music and I decided to join in and when my parents saw that they decided to give me a piano teacher," Lily said.

Lily has been playing, practicing and performing ever since. She takes private lessons in Newton once a week and practices four to six hours a day.

Lily recently won first place at the American Fine Arts Festival and was given an invitation to play in New York City. "I'm going to perform at Carnegie Hall for everyone," Lily said.

Lily Chen
Lily Chen (WBZ-TV)

At her Montclair Elementary School her classmates got a little test of her talent and wished her the very best as she prepares to perform Nocturne at Carnegie Hall. "It took me almost a year to learn that," Lily said.

The school's music teacher was blown away when she heard her first perform."She sat at that piano and I heard her play Chopin and I was truly impressed of her talent," Tracy O'Sullivan said.

Lily says she hopes one day to be a music teacher herself. "It makes me feel happy because I like it so much and I feel the music," Lily said.

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