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Japanese pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii, 21, plays for a mesmerized group of listeners Wednesday morning during a piano workshop at Amro Music. Tsujii is the first blind pianist to win the gold medal at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.

When 21-year-old Nobuyuki Tsujii sits down at a piano, "I simply go into my own world with mountains, nature and birds. All those things are going through my mind."

As the first blind pianist to win the gold medal in the prestigious 13th annual Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, Tsujii (pronounced soo-GEE) takes his listeners into his magical world.

About 30 piano teachers, music directors and fans at Amro Music store in Memphis got a glimpse of that world during a workshop Wednesday. A film crew from the Japanese Broadcast Company, which is similar to the Public Broadcasting Service in the U.S., filmed his every move for a documentary they are doing.

One couple, Chiharu and Travis Costa, and their 9-year-old son, Tristan, drove two days from Flagstaff, Ariz., to hear Tsujii during tonight's performance at 7:30 at the Germantown Performing Arts Centre. He'll be playing from the works of Chopin, Schumann, Liszt and others. Mrs. Costa, who is Japanese, said after Tsujii won the Van Cliburn competition, the family decided they had to see him play. "He's amazing," she said.  Click here to view full article.