Sara Banta’s eyes lit up and a warm smile appeared on her face as she recalled her first meeting with her piano student Rex Lewis-Clack more than four years ago.
“It was right in this room the Pepperdine music instructor began, looking reflectively at the piano across her studio. She told of how Rex and his mother, Cathleen Lewis, came into her office to assess if Banta and Rex would be a good match for each other in a teacher-student dynamic.
I have a Chopin waltz you might like Rex she had said, and played the piece. As she played, Rex sat tiredly in his mother’s lap, appearing disconnected and bored, not paying much attention.
When Banta had finished, Lewis said to her son, Rex why don’t you play that for us?” After hearing the song for the first time in his life Rex played the waltz back to them note for note as Banta had done even imitating her slight error.
A little biographical information about Rex makes this story truly incredible: he was 10 years old blind and mentally disabled. Rex is a savant— a person blessed with an area of extraordinary genius or expertise amid a life primarily dominated by developmental disability.
In Rex’s case that field of genius is music.
For the past four years Banta has been coaching Rex at the piano guiding his innate musical genius with her years of experience as a piano virtuoso.
“We arrived here because his other teachers before her couldn’t keep up with him Lewis told Pepperdine Magazine last year. She can sight-read any piece of music and just play it so she’s brilliant in improvisation which is really important for Rex.”
Banta works with Rex weekly developing his technique theory and repertoire. But what she says is the most difficult part about coaching the young musician is nurturing personal touch and emotional inflection into his music.
Banta said she’s often amazed at how adept he is at picking up inflection cues in her music. Although she admits that much of it is imitation she still drives Rex to add his own voice to the songs he plays.
“It’s hard she said, but it’s getting better.”
Rex a Malibu native was born with a cyst in his brain so large that it blinded him and impaired his ability to develop properly. Doctors believed that he would never learn to walk talk or eat solid food. Autistic-like symptoms paired with his blindness made for a seemingly bleak future.
That all changed when he was 2 years old. He got his first piano— a small electric keyboard that he would spend hours a day playing even past the point of exhaustion. As Rex’s musical ability improved so did his motor and social skills; he can now walk and interact socially in addition to skillfully playing the piano.
“Something he learned in three lessons can take a whole semester for another student Banta said.
Now Rex’s piano abilities have reached international acclaim. His talent has taken him around the world, allowing him to perform for international audiences of thousands of people. After a recent performance tour, Lewis and Rex came back to Malibu for their lesson, reporting to Banta that the musical translations” were a hit.
The “translations” she’s talking about are a fun musical mix of a well-known themes with the spin of other genres on it. Rex started the lesson with a run-through of his latest set: “The Music of the Night” from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “The Phantom of the Opera.”
He first expressed the song as if Mozart had written it backing the commanding voice of the love anthem with dreamy repetitions of flowing arpeggios. Next he turned it into a polonaise a dancing song with majestic chords passionately prancing around the keys. And he closed with a boogie-woogie the creeping baseline steadily grooving alongside the dignified melody.
But Banta’s work with Rex is not all fun and games. Part of their work together includes teaching Rex complex musical literature all by ear.
One of Rex’s latest pieces is George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue an exceedingly complicated piece with jazz and classical elements spanning 32 pages. It took Rex a mere five hours to learn and memorize the whole thing.
It’s overwhelming Banta said. You realize his ability and what he can do with it.” Because Rex learns so aptly by ear yet so differently from other pupils Banta has been challenged as a pianist and a teacher. She has to play everything for him making sure to include the exact nuances she wants him to pick up on.
“You learn different ways of presenting and appreciating music she said. It’s made me more aware.”
During the lesson while Banta was trying to get Rex to understand the correct finger technique she played on his arm as if it were a piano. “Make the piano feel this she told him.
To go beyond simply playing the notes correctly and in the right order, Banta tries to help ignite his genuine creativity and emotional presence by working on improvisation. They call the exercise question and answer.” It is the musical equivalent of an impromptu conversation.
Hearing the two of them play together is like listening to two people in animated dialogue. They question each other. They elaborate. They tell stories. They raise new points disagree argue then resolve their differences.
But unlocking his creativity took some effort and dedication. When they first began doing the question-and-answer exercises Rex would attempt to imitate everything thrown at him. Banta would have to be very clear to tell Rex he couldn’t do the same thing but had to answer her in a different way. Banta believes this musical expression is key in helping Rex’s mind develop.
“That’s what we’re trying to do she said, awaken his brain more and more.”
It’s a tough battle against a tough condition. No one can fully explain why Rex or any musical savant can command the voices of their instruments with such brilliance. This lack of understanding distinguishes Rex from Banta’s students even further.
“He is just so open Banta said. They [other students] are already thinking ‘How do I do this?’ making it more complicated.” But Banta can no more explain her successes with Rex than the experts can explain his condition.
“I’ve thought about it so much she said. I know what I do works for him but I don’t know why it works.”
Banta also recognizes that her challenges in teaching Rex are also opportunities to let his musical ability shine. In a way she said she feels a sense of responsibility.
“I can never be lazy because every day has the potential to be something great.”