"I am a nobody and nobody wants to help a nobody but my 15-year-old son will be a somebody that everyone will want to know and everyone will want to support someday, just not yet. He will be the pride of Ireland but Ireland will not support or help him." So read an email by listener Jane, speaking of her cello-playing son Jayden. Delusional mammy blinded by love for her son, say you? Juilliard disagrees. As does The Guildhall School of Music, The Royal Academy of London, the Royal College of London and a great many others. It seems Jane has something of a prodigy on her hands with Jayden although she says "we kind of hate saying that word because he's such a normal young guy."
Jane knew her son was talented, but she didn't realise quite how talented he truly was.
"I start getting all these emails from the director of the Royal Academy in London, the director of the Royal College… then I got a random email from Juilliard in New York, thank you for your inquiry, we'd love an opportunity to speak with you… Jayden said, oh yeah Mam, I just thought maybe that I might apply to these places and I was like, for what sweetie, and he said, I want to go there, and Ryan, the panic for me wasn't that he wasn't going to get in, the panic was, he would."
It never occurred to Jane that Jayden would be talented enough to get a scholarship to one of the most prestigious musical institutions in the world, but she was very much mistaken. Juilliard offered him a place without audition based on just a video but when the Royal Academy offered to cover his fees in full, Jane's choice was made simple.
Jayden is academically talented but due to the demands of his practice schedule, he is only studying 5 core subjects for his Junior Cert. He travels to London every Saturday for a full day of classes, fitting a week's worth of tuition into one day. The expense to Jane comes to an estimated €4000 annually and she has applied to every conceivable body or TD for help covering the costs of an Irish rising star, but to no avail. Her point is this is a teenager who has been asked to perform a solo concert at Carnegie Hall and while there is funding for other activities such as sport, she cannot access necessary funds to give her son the helping hand he needs.
"Every single parent has the right to champion their child's success and quality of life. This is my child's quality of life… If he's not going to be able to do this, I mean mentally, physically, he's not going to be well… Because he's outstanding at a young age, there's nothing available for him. I have gone everywhere, I have done everything. Every single arts grant or any application that you can make, you have to be over 18… With Jayden's expenses, it's nearly hand to mouth but I have to do it, Ryan."
Click here to listen to Jane's chat with Ryan in full.