City Commission to recognize rising star at July 3rd meeting
A child prodigy who began belting out Mozart on his toy piano with no training, no genetic disposition and no warning at age four, Ethan is rapidly emerging as a national celebrity.
In recognition of his accomplishments and fame, he will be honored by his hometown when the Hollywood City Commission presents him with a certificate of appreciation at its July 3rd meeting where there are rumors he might perform, something of which he never seems to tire. When asked how he feels about his latest accolade, he tilts his head pondering before enthusiastically replying, “It makes me happy!”
He isn’t the only one.
“I know Ethan and his family and we can all be proud of the accomplishments of Hollywood’s own musical prodigy,” said Mayor Mara Giulianti who will be on hand to honor Ethan at the July 3rd meeting.
The city meeting is far from his first public appearance. Already a guest on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno along with Cameron Diaz, Ethan was so well received by the viewers and Jay, himself, he’s been invited back for an encore performance in September. NBC’s Access Hollywood recently did a big piece on the six-year-old sensation when he opened for national pop star Nelly Furtado right here at the Seminole Hard Rock at Hard Rock Live.
And just last month, PBS taped a special of Ethan at Steinway Gallery in Boca Raton playing the 12-page Concertino No. 2 with his instructor Dr. Irena Kofman.
His father Gene said that as Ethan was playing the intense and complicated composition, he dramatically threw himself into it with his face and body heaving expressively in sync with his fingers along the piano. When he asked his son why he was so emotional during the piece, Ethan replied matter-of-factly, “Dad, that’s the song.”
Dr. Kofman says her experience mentoring Ethan is a fascinating one.
“I discover something new about Ethan every lesson. He is maturing, growing, though still a six year old child -- playful, mischievous and funny,” she said. “Ethan prefers to learn and play more complicated music these days, it keeps him interested. Sad, happy, lyrical, majestic, jazzy, patriotic -- he creates what music demands.”
According to scientific studies there are five percent extremely talented children whom would be considered child prodigies, but only one percent is recognized, added the prestigious Russian-born instructor.
But still Ethan and his family remain refreshingly down-to-earth seeming un-impacted thus far by the attention.
Hannah, 35, and Gene, 36, both of Ukrainian descent married young and lived in Philadelphia where the family business did well enough to afford them to move to South Florida seven years ago. They fell in love with Harbor Islands where Gene’s parents had already settled.
This works out well since Ethan proudly exclaims that his favorite place in Hollywood is “Grandma and Grandpa’s house where I play with my cousins.”
Ethan was born on December 24, 2000. On November 14, 2005, when little brother Nathan was born, the Bortnicks were faced with devastating news. Their second son was born with an undetected and rare heart defect. There were less than a handful of doctors and hospitals in the country where the dangerous procedure for an infant missing half his heart could be performed.
When Gene tells the story, he speaks like a man fully aware and deeply grateful of his family’s fortunate fate.
“Wouldn’t you know it? One of the doctors was right here at Miami Children’s Hospital,” he beamed while playing with a healthy-looking 18-month-old Nathan. “He only has one surgery to go and he is doing great.”
Family is a recurring theme in any discussion with Ethan who loves spending time with them as much as he seems to share an equal passion for the piano with “the animals.”
The animals are everywhere around Ethan. Between the rubber dinosaurs perched on his piano and the stuffed chimp attached in a Velcro hug around his arm, it is no surprise that there have been talks of a project involving Ethan and Bindi the Jungle Girl, who is following in the animal-loving footsteps of her father, the late Steve Irwin, Crocodile Hunter.
But even with a CD/DVD of both his original compositions and renditions of musical legends coming out by the holidays, Ethan is still just a six-year old whose favorite color is “red . . . and blue. Wait . . .green and purple, too.” Because after all purple is his smallest cousin’s favorite.
His favorite restaurant? Latitudes at the Hollywood Beach Marriott, where they give him ‘crayons’ so he can draw with all his favorite colors.
Ethan’s dad Gene admits that the offers and requests come swarming in and although careful and strategic on what they accept, charity performances have already been plentiful. Close to the family’s heart, organizations funding research for children’s illnesses have topped the list. Ethan has lent his talent to fund-raising efforts of organizations and causes including Heart-4-Heart, Kids in Distress and The Lili Claire Foundation. His family is currently working on coordinating a benefit for Miami Children’s Hospital, the hospital they credit with saving little Nathan’s life.
Mom Hannah says there are opportunities they do not accept simply because it is not the right fit and they are only on board if it is what Ethan wants.
“We do not drain him. We will not,” she says. “He is the one pushing us. He is in the lead.”
For more information, visit http://www.ethansmusicsite.com
