Radio de Eldar
Eldar E. Djangirov, most commonly known only as Eldar, is a jazz pianist. He was born on January 28, 1987 in Kyrgyzstan (ex-Soviet Union) and then moved to Kansas, United States. He currently resides in New York City. He began playing the piano when he was 3 years old, learning from his Russian parents. The first thing he remembers learning was C Jam Blues. He later took classical lessons and was "discovered" at age 9 by the late New York City jazz aficionado Charles McWhorter, who saw him play at a festival in Siberia. The family moved to Kansas City, drawn there in large part by the city's jazz history. During his Kansas City years, even before reaching his teens, Eldar already started building a reputation as a true child prodigy, appearing on Marian McPartland's award-winning NPR show, Piano Jazz, when he was only 12 years old, being the youngest performer to ever appear on her show. Eldar attended St. Elizabeth's grade school in Kansas City, Missouri. Eventually, the family moved to San Diego where he attended the Francis W. Parker School, and then to the Los Angeles area where he attended University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music.