MUSIC

A 9-year-old boy who has been blind since birth made his London debut with the Royal Philharmonic Pops Orchestra Tuesday night, playing jazz and popular tunes. Derek Paravicini, in white silk shirt and blue trousers, was cheered by the audience at the Barbican Center. The concert was to aid Fight for Sight, a charity researching blindness. Derek’s mother said that her son had never seen anything, let alone a piano: “He just puts his hands in the air and they come down on the right keys.” She said his talent showed up when he was only 2 and he started “bashing away” at a toy electric organ. His parents later bought him a piano and by age 5 he could play a wide range of classical pieces, popular tunes and folk songs.