Malik Kofi, 11-year old child prodigy, set to take classical music world by storm
theGRIO REPORT - Malik Kofi is extraordinarily talented; a child prodigy, musical genius, awe-inspiring orator, with intellectual gifts well beyond his years...
Those that interact with Kofi say despite his slight 5-foot-1 frame, he has the maturity and charismatic confidence of a fully grown man.
“He’s an extremely talented cellist, very creative, mature, has stage presence, is open to learning and has strong ideas of his own” says internationally renowned cellist Udi Bar-David of the Philadelphia Orchestra, who is Kofi’s mentor and ad hoc teacher.
“When anyone works smart they can become successful in anything,” says Kofi. “You have to have a good work ethic.”
The family are economically disadvantaged but have never ever allowed their social-economic status to get in the way of big dreams. “Poor is a state of mind,” says Cox. “My children never knew they were poor unless someone told them.”
The twins have temporarily put their studies on hold, with each working two jobs to support the family, pay the bills, and help cover the costs of Kofi’s costly music lessons. Both twins plan to attend medical school.
As well as his music and public speaking engagements, Kofi is busy preparing for his SAT college entrance exam in May. “He’s working to make a perfect score,” says Cox.
At first he was focused on place at an Ivy League institution but now Kofi has his heart set on Johns Hopkins University or the Curtis Institute of Music, one of the top music conservatories in the world. Curtis not only offers academic rigor but serves as a training ground for gifted young musicians.
Kofi says he’d love to do a double major in Music and Architecture. “My ambition is to perform in one of the best orchestras in the world. But I’d also like to do something independent of cello, like architecture, create my own community or something like that.”
“If he gets into one of those schools me and Malik will pack our bags,” says Cox.
The tale is so compelling that when former Emmy-award winning former television news anchor, Malena Cunningham, met Kofi at a fundraiser in Alabama she felt duty-bound to tell his story to the world.
“It wasn’t just his vocabulary, but his conviction and the way he was saying it,” says Cunningham, who now runs her own multi-media company, Strategic Media Relations. “I gave his grandmother my card and said I wanted to make a documentary.”
Cunningham says although Kofi is academically and musically-gifted he owes much to the drive and passion of his devoted grandmother.
“If Ruby Cox wasn’t the type of grandmother she is, he’d be a bright, frustrated, African-American child, lost in the system because he didn’t have the right push from a parent,” she says.
“Ruby saw in her children, especially her grandchildren, and in particular Malik, the ability to help them grow. She has nurtured and given them opportunities despite their socio-economic background.
“If we had more parents, not just grandparents, who were as tenacious as Ruby, we wouldn’t have a generation of lost children.”
Cunningham hopes her coming documentary, which is now in post-production, will be an outlet to provide financial support for the family.
The first screening of Little Music Manchild: The Malik Kofi Story scheduled for April in Birmingham, Alabama, will be fundraising event to support Ruby and Kofi’s music fees. Further down the line, Cunningham hopes to screen the film at festivals across the country.
Follow Kunbi Tinuoye on Twitter at @Kunbiti
You Might Like
