Recognized by the Guinness World Records as “The World’s Youngest Solo Musician to Head-line His Own Concert Tour,” 16-year-old Ethan Bortnick has been performing around the world, raising over $40,000,000 for charities across the globe.
When he was just three years old, the Hollywood, Florida native asked his parents for piano lessons and discovered an uncanny ability to hear a song once and play it back note for note – the musical equivalent of a photographic memory. He soaked up the music of such diverse artists and composers as Beethoven, Mozart, jazz pianist Bill Evans, Little Richard, Billy Joel and Elton John, and began creating original compositions at age five. A few years later, Ethan began making television appearances and touring, connecting with audiences in countries such as Japan, Brazil, Canada, South Africa and Australia.
Ethan has not only moved audiences throughout the world as a captivating musician, but he is also a driven humanitarian, dedicated to combining his musical pursuits with his charity work. When Ethan was five, his younger brother had three heart surgeries and that emotional time inspired him to use his musical talents to benefit charity.
I remember going to the Children’s Hospital and seeing a lot of sick children. I learned that some of these kids could not afford surgery so the hospital raised money for them. It made me want to help these kids,” Ethan explained.
Since then, Ethan has helped raise over $30,000,000 for nonprofits around the world. At these charity events, he’s shared the stage with artists such as Elton John, Andrea Bocelli, Beyoncé, Josh Groban and Reba McEntire, among many others. In 2010, he joined some of music’s big-gest names – including Barbra Streisand, Tony Bennett, Celine Dion, Carlos Santana, etc.., as the youngest of the all-star lineup that recorded We Are The World 25 For Haiti.
His highly successful nationally televised TV show, The Power of Music, has been the number one concert pledge show on Public Television for 2014/2015 pledge drives, and is still running nationwide continuously, winning multiple awards. Ethan recently graced Esquire magazine's 80th anniversary cover, was featured in Gap's global celebrity ad campaign, and continues to share the stage with music legends.
Ethan has also been featured on countless national television shows, including multiple appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Good Morning America and Oprah, where he was named one of Oprah’s All Time Smartest, Most Talented Kids.
Ethan completed shooting a full-length feature film called Anything Is Possible which was released in September 2013 to rave reviews. He starred in the film, co-wrote all of the songs in the film and scored all the background music.
Billy Joel's Musical Director, Dave Rosenthal, renowned globally for his work with Billy for over twenty years is also Ethan's Musical Director.
Ethan has performed at venues around the globe, charity functions, performing arts centers, large arenas with over 70,000 people and for Ethan, the most fulfilling aspect of success is bringing people joy. “When I perform at someone’s home or in a huge arena, I just love every moment of it! When I see the audience enjoying the music, having fun, smiling and dancing, there’s just nothing better that that!” he says.