Move over Beethoven, don’t you step on his blue suede shoes.
Trent Montgrand is a 17-year-old Carpenter High School student finding himself in the spotlight after two Facebook videos of the teen playing piano went viral getting viewed 15,000 times in just 24 hours.
Montgrand, who is originally from the tiny northern community of Turnor Lake, spent much of his time growing up teaching himself how to play on an old keyboard while his brothers Brian and Jay toyed with guitar.
“I had a real old 90’s keyboard and I just kind of messed around with notes,” he says.
After seeing his passion develop without any lessons, his mother went to Saskatoon and bought him a newer keyboard allowing him to nurture his talent.
Some of the online comments to his posted videos make note of the fact Montgrand plays the piano better than adults who have years of formal training.
He says such kind words from total strangers give him butterflies and he feels their love.
Montgrand says the most meaningful support comes from his Grandpa Joe, though, who resides back in Turnor Lake.
“My Grandpa Joe, I just call him Grandpa, is proud. He’s never been so proud before. It almost made me tear up.”
He adds he has learned a lot through playing the piano and it has made him open to a number of things.
“I’ve learned from playing the piano, that I no longer like the word, ‘prodigy.’ Anyone could do what I do. It just takes an amount of work and dedication.”
Montgrand says his favourite subject in school is language arts because it allows him to express himself creatively.
He explains that if he had to choose to express himself through piano or language arts, he would simply follow his heart.
The teen says he is fully aware that it can be difficult to pursue a passion as peers can be a tough audience.
However, he says his generation must stick together and support each other in order to have a positive future.
“A message for our next generation is that there are a lot of people my age that have what I have but they are too ashamed or don’t have the courage to really show their passions. I want to let them know that they are not alone. None of us are alone. We are in this together.”
Beyond the piano, Montgrand has taught himself how to play a few tunes on the Native flute.
“If you let your passions down, you let yourself down, so you have really got to follow what you love and what you desire most,” he says.
He adds that he wouldn’t discount the thought of starting The Montgrand Brothers Band if his brothers, Brian and Jay, pick up their guitars again.
(PHOTO: Trent Montgrand. Photo courtesy Carpenter High School Facebook page.)