Access Discovers Ethan Bortnick

“I was three years old and I told my mom and dad I want to play piano,” he said. “They didn’t believe me so I got those baby Einstein CDs and I heard every note and I played it. They were in the living room and then they saw it was me.”

Ethan’s parents were shocked when they saw their little boy was the one playing the songs and not the CD.

“He was so young,” his parents told Access. “Only three years old. One day he was playing Mozart from the baby Einstein CDs. I thought it was the auto button and he said ‘No mom! It’s really me.’ I was just in awe. I couldn’t believe that my little kid was doing that so we said ‘OK, you’re getting your piano lessons.”

Ethan’s parents weren’t the only ones blown away by their little boys musical abilities. Within months, the tender tot had impressed his instructor as well.

“After three months, his teacher said ‘I don’t understand this. He picks up everything so fast and his attention span – most kids it’s 20-30 minutes but he could sit there for hours,’” they recalled. “He started progressing at a wild pace, just extreme and that’s when we realized he has a gift.”

While many kids learning an instrument find it bothersome to sit there and practice, Ethan will practice for hours. So far the little boy has committed some 200 songs to memory. He also writes his own songs, recently playing one of his compositions – “The Tiger Ran Away At the Zoo,” for a national audience on Jay Leno’s “Tonight Show.”

“That was fun,” Ethan says of his of his TV appearance. “There was like 400-500 [people there].”

While on the show, he met Cameron Diaz who he played a song for backstage.

“It was very fun,” Ethan told Access. “She was nice.”

“Jay Leno or Cameron, these are just people, great talented people [to Ethan],” his parents explain. “He doesn’t get nervous because who they are, it’s more like ‘Oh it’s Fiona. I think he had a little crush on her cause she was so nice to him.”

Ethan also made another friend at Leno, one who has offered him a summer job.

“Nelly Furtado was the musical guest on Jay Leno, the day we were there. Her manager & Nelly couldn’t believe how he played, so after the show we got together and started talking and they called us a week later and said they would love for Ethan to come to the concert & play,” his parents said.

Also up for this rising star? His own CD/DVD!

“This summer we are going to put out a CD/DVD like a kids for kids,” his parents noted. “The reason behind the CD is we noticed that whenever he does an 800 person concert, it will be mixed with adults & kids. Everyone is screaming, it’s a mess, but as soon as he gets on that piano everyone shushes.”

Watch our video with Ethan and prepare to be “shushed” yourself!