David Durham overcomes trauma through music

DAVID DURHAM wants everyone to “find their spark,” as he believes it can get them out of really dark situations.

The 11-year-old hopes the story of how he found his “spark” – through playing the piano, which helped him overcome the challenges and trauma of domestic abuse – can inspire others.

At nine, David fled his home to live in a shelter with his mother, to escape abuse by another relative. He told Newsday Kids his earlier childhood years were “very bad.” He endured physical abuse and even death threats.

“They were very aggressive, and I used to be scared all the time and really sad.

"But we had a piano, and whenever I played that, I felt very calm.”

He began experimenting with an old keyboard he had at the age of five. His mother taught him to play “simple things,” by ear.

“Then we spoke to Ms (Candace) Achaiba, a piano teacher, to ask her if I could do lessons. But she said I had to wait until I was about seven years old, because of the size of my hands and fingers.”

When he was finally able to begin learning music theory, he was thrilled.

He recalled, “There was a song I was getting a lot of trouble with, which was When the Saints Go Marching In. But she and Mummy encouraged me a lot and eventually, I finished the song.”

He said reading sheet music for the first time was “not tough at all.”

In hindsight, now he can play masterpieces like Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata (First Movement) and Un Sospiro by Franz Liszt, he said, “I look back at that time now like, ‘How could I have wanted to give up on a really easy song like that?'”

But after fleeing his abusive situation, he was no longer able to continue classes there.

And moving around often led to the piano's being damaged in storage and transit, which made it go out of tune.

But David watched online tutorials, bought his own tuning kit and learnt how to retune it himself.

He described life in a shelter as a new and interesting experience, referring to the building as “a mansion,” since it had so many rooms.

As time went by and he and his mother got back on their feet to live on their own, he wanted a new piano.

“And we priced one and it was like $5,000 and we couldn’t afford it.

"So then I was like, ‘Don’t worry, Mummy. I will enter competitions and we can get some of the money.’”

In fact he got to continue piano classes after a music teacher from his church discovered he could play.

It was through someone calling that teacher to find out whether he had any “talented kids” that David entered and won a children's talent competition. Held in May for children six-12, the competition’s top prize was $5,000 and $20,000 in Unit Trust shares.

David was a favourite throughout the competition, even gaining the nickname “Butterfingers” from one of the judges, who was trying to convey how effortless his playing seemed.

Asked how he felt when he won, he said, “I was just so happy, really, really happy.”

But he was not really surprised as he had been praying he would win.

Overall, he said, the show was “a lot of excitement.”

For him, the type of song he plays on the piano helps him feel the emotions woven into the tune.

“If it’s something that fast, I would feel excited, but if it’s something like the first movement, which is slower, I would feel a little more sombre.”

He said his message to other children and even adults who are going through hard times is: Try to find your spark. And by that I mean, whatever you are good at, and keep at it and it can help you overcome a lot.”

Apart from piano, he enjoys swimming, karate, chess and can also play “a little bit" of guitar, pan and drums.

But he wants to be a neuroscientist when he grows up, because he “wants to research the human brain.”