Interview With Victor Ronchetti, Adele Ronchetti
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: And joining us this morning, the young violinist that you just saw in that piece, Victor Ronchetti. He says he was exposed to classical music very early in life, made all the difference to him. Victor and his mother, Adele, with us from New York this morning. Thank you both for being with us. Victor, let me ask you, you know, I was noticing when you play, you seem to just really love it. Do you love to play? Do you love the music? What about it do you like?</s>VICTOR RONCHETTI: Well, I like to perform and everything, and I think it's -- well, it's a really fun thing to do, and it's</s>CALLAWAY: You don't mind practicing, then.</s>VICTOR RONCHETTI: Well, I really don't care for practicing that much. But, you see, I kind of know that because I really love to perform, and I have to practice to perform, or else no one's going to want to listen to me.</s>CALLAWAY: Hey, Victor, if I give you my daughter's number, would you call her? Because she</s>ADELE RONCHETTI, VICTOR'S MOTHER: Catherine, hi, thanks for having us on. He practices about four hours a week.</s>CALLAWAY: Wow.</s>ADELE RONCHETTI: It's a big commitment. It's all about finding -- I mean, I'm sorry, not four hours a week, four hours a day.</s>ADELE RONCHETTI: Yes, it is four hours a day. And...</s>CALLAWAY: Wow. That's a lot.</s>ADELE RONCHETTI: ...</s>CALLAWAY: I was getting excited when you said four hours a week, because we can do that...</s>ADELE RONCHETTI: No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Yes. No, I was thinking ...</s>CALLAWAY: Four hours...</s>ADELE RONCHETTI: ... was thinking about my older daughters. They practice about four hours a week. No, he practices four hours a day. And the trick is -- well, there is no trick. I mean, it's a lot of hard work...</s>CALLAWAY: That is a lot of work.</s>ADELE RONCHETTI: ...</s>CALLAWAY: I just want to make sure...</s>ADELE RONCHETTI: ...</s>CALLAWAY: ... people know that, because I don't want them to think that Victor just picked it up, and -- although he obviously has a natural talent for it. How do you motivate him to do it?</s>ADELE RONCHETTI: We play games. He has a great teacher. I think that's the bottom line. He goes for lessons twice a week, and that really keeps him going, because his teacher will give him assignments. And you want to be prepared when you go to your lesson. You want to make your teacher happy. I think that's a big part of it.</s>CALLAWAY: And Victor, don't you think this is helping you in other subjects as well? Certainly if you're that devoted to music...</s>VICTOR RONCHETTI: Definitely, especially math, because...</s>CALLAWAY: Tell...</s>VICTOR RONCHETTI: ... music has a lot to do with math in, like, you know, time signatures, and all -- well, yes, it helps me with everything.</s>CALLAWAY: You're finding that you get it maybe just a little bit faster than the other kids in your class, at least when it comes to math?</s>VICTOR RONCHETTI: A little bit.</s>CALLAWAY: What do your friends think about you playing?</s>VICTOR RONCHETTI: What?</s>CALLAWAY: We have some feedback problems, we apologize. What do your friends think about you playing and about the amount of time that you spend practicing? Because I know they're calling you wanting to go play baseball and stuff like that.</s>VICTOR RONCHETTI: Well, I mean, they sort of don't really care, and, I mean, it's like none of them -- I mean, some of my classmates play violin, but, like, probably like two minutes a day.</s>CALLAWAY: That's great that he's inspiring classmates. That just doesn't happen at Victor's age. You know, here in Georgia, the governor gave out -- Governor Zell Miller gave out CDs of classical music for babies, and I was playing that for my child. But I can't say that I saw a big difference in her understanding of music or her appreciation of it. Certainly she enjoyed it. But you disagree, you think it really helps babies to listen to this kind of music.</s>ADELE RONCHETTI: I think I -- it really does. His teacher, we were talking about, and his teacher said that the one thing that you need to have to be a great musician is a good ear. And I think listening to complicated music at an early age really does develop that ear. And it's -- once you have that good ear -- She said prodigies are made, they're not born. And I think you start out with a good ear, and then if you have a good teacher and good family support, you can really build on that.</s>CALLAWAY: Right. I know my toddler really pays attention when my daughter is playing her violin. Victor, what are your memories? Certainly I know your older sisters have been playing violin for a long time. As far back as you can remember, you've been hearing the sound of a violin, haven't you?</s>VICTOR RONCHETTI: Yes.</s>CALLAWAY: And how did that help you or inspire you in any way?</s>VICTOR RONCHETTI: I think that helped because I -- well, when I started, I knew most of the songs from listening to the tapes of their songs that they were playing, and listening to them practice. And when I played it, it just helped a lot.</s>CALLAWAY: All right. Victor, thank you so much for being with us. And Adele, you're an inspiration for me, I don't know about Victor being an inspiration to the kids...</s>CALLAWAY: ... but I got to get busy.</s>ADELE RONCHETTI: Thank you, thank you so much.</s>CALLAWAY: And...</s>ADELE RONCHETTI: Thanks for having us.</s>CALLAWAY: And Victor, we wanted to know if you don't mind playing for us, as we say farewell on this Saturday morning. Can you do that for us?</s>VICTOR RONCHETTI: Sure. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com