A hit to the head altered a Colorado man’s life by unleashing a hidden talent. Doctors say pianist Derek Amato is one of the few people in the world to have experienced the rare phenomena called Acquired Savant Syndrome.
He says the music is in his mind. He sees it in his head, and his fingers do the rest. Amato has a gift that came about in a totally unexpected way.
Twelve years ago he had a major accident in the swimming pool.
“I miscalculated diving in the shallow end and hit the bottom of the shallow end on this side of my head and damaged the back end,” said Amato.
While in recovery from the accident, he was at a friend’s house and walked over to the keyboard and miraculously, without ever playing the piano before, he began playing … and playing very well.
The trauma to the head unlocked something special inside Amato’s brain.
Acquired Savant Syndrome has been described in journals and studies “as when a tragedy turns you into a genius.” At Classic Pianos on South Broadway in Denver, Amato told Rick Sallinger that black and white squares manifest themselves in his mind when he’s at the piano.
“I just follow what the blocks tell me to do. I do my best to take those notes and put them into playing,” said Amato.
His incredibly talented arms are tattooed with musical notes which he cannot unterstand, “Reading music seems confusing for me. I tried to learn a couple different times.”
He says despite not being able to read music, he’s alert that he has been given a precious gift and he tries to give back to those who have spent hard times on the streets of Denver, as he once did.
“You were homeless here in Denver?” Sallinger asked.
“Yes, I had three months on the streets,” Amato said.
He says he got by with a tiny backpack and a blanket a lot like the people that can be seen on a daily basis along Lawrence street at Park Avenue West. When he was doing his interviews, Amato stopped to talk with one apparently homeless woman.
“I have some time on the streets, I had my time with homelessness.”
“What do you think about homelessness?” she asked.
“It hurts my heart. I’m going to do everything I can,” Amato replied.
One way he does that is through donating to The Voice newspaper which benefits the homeless. He plans to set up shop with some of the vendors who sell the paper throughout the city and perform his music in an effort to draw attention to their mission.
Amato has written a book about it his journey called “My Beautiful Disaster.”
“It’s the best thing that happened to me. My whole being has changed and I think it’s been an incredible experience,” Amato said.
