2016 is shaping to be a huge year for a 10-year-old boy from NDG.
Piano prodigy Devon Packer will play Carnegie Hall at the end of this month and accept an award as a winner of the International Crescendo music competition.
Last November he entered the competition, and was chosen a winner for his rendition of Mendelssohn's Venetian Boat Song.
Devon is eagerly looking forward to his performance in a venue graced by his heroes.
"Some of my greatest idols have performed there, like Leonard Bernstein and Vladimir Horowitz."
Until then he's spending part of every day practicing the tune, hoping he will do better than when he performed for judges in November.
His mother, Paulana Layman, said Devon was a little disappointed by his winning performance.
"He came out, we weren't there with him, and he said 'I didn't do that great, I really think I could have done better,'" she said.
Devon has been playing piano for years, an endeavour encouraged by his parents.
David Packer has a degree in music, and Layman's mother was a concert pianist.
But Packer thinks his son is a better musician, gifted with near-perfect pitch.
"He's as amazing to us as he is to everyone else. He's a better musician than me and I have a degree in it," said Packer.
"He has a way of taking every different musical experience and making it fresh. And that's what I don't see in a lot of other musicians."
Devon says he doesn't practice very much -- only an hour a day.
"That's not quite true," said Packer, pointing out that Devon is often playing the piano, or watching videos about talented musicians.
When he's playing with his pet turtle Devon is actually making the reptile dance to piano music
"I think it lets out all my feelings, like when I'm angry, I play angry music that lets my anger out and when I'm happy, I play happy music," said Devon.
Devon's show is Jan. 30 in New York.
