Did Paderewski have a concert in which a child was at the piano when he came on stage and they played a duet?

Clarification: You mean this Values.com TV spot:

http://www.values.com/inspirational-stories-tv-spo...

Perhaps you have already obtained the answer by asking it of one of the reference librarians at your local public library. If not . . .

From this web site:

http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/p/paderewski....

Quote:

The Boy Who Played Chopsticks for the Great Paderewski-Fiction!

The Rumor

The story of a little boy who was taken to a Paderewski concert by his mother. He slipped away from her, made his way to the platform, sat down at the concert piano and began to play Chopsticks. The crowd reacted with anger and said to take the boy away. Paderewski, when he realized what was going on, went to the piano and began playing along with the boy, whispering to him, "Keep going. Don't quit, son. Keep playing. Don't stop. Don't quit."

The Truth

There are various versions of this story.

In some of them, the boy plays "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star."

In this version, it is said the boy played Chopsticks, a simple little tune that every child who has had access to a piano seems to have learned how to play.

There is no evidence this ever happened, however.

Ignacy Jan Paderewski (1860-1941) was a Polish pianist who gained world wide fame and was very popular in the United States.

Paderewski experts say the story may have been inspired by a poster during World War II that promoted a meeting in support of the Polish Relief Fund.

Paderewski is said to have organized the meeting.

The poster included a sketch of Paderewski next to a boy at the piano.

The boy was carrying his belongings wrapped at the end of a stick and was called "Johnny the Wanderer."

This is a link to an image of the poster mentioned above:

http://www.soksa.com/thread.aspx?sku=357

Librarians--Ask Us, We Answer!

Find your local Canadian Public Library at:

http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/gateway/s22-212...

Best wishes

Paderewski Pianist

Wow? 50 people? I would be nervous, too! I had a piano recital recently and I only played in front of like 20 people and I reacted the same way. My teacher made me memorize it, but I totally 4got the piece when I started playing. You're NOT alone, stage fright is very common! You're parents should know that. Punishing a kids for stage fright is not reasonable, not to mention bad parenting!

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