THE OTHER CYRUS
THE GREAT

What's in a name? As they say, a rose is a rose by any other name. Perhaps what you can achieve has no bearings on your name. On the other hand, perhaps it has. Take eight-year-old Cyrus Kelawala, for example. Named after Cyrus the Great, the visionary and magnanimous founder of the Persian Empire, the 2nd Grader's achievements so far would have made his namesake smile in his tomb at least.

While one would imagine his peers playing on the PSP, the DS or what-have-yous in this electronic games age, Cyrus would be busy playing on the piano and coming up with musical snippets of his own.

Already a regular on the recital circuit in his home of Honolulu, Hawaii, and a two-time honors winner of the Punahou School of Music, Cyrus would play his own compositions, as well as a traditional classical piece, much to the surprise and eventual delight of the audience.

"At first, everybody thought that it was a mistake when they saw his name as the composer as well as the performer on the program. But they soon got used to it," explains his mom Pauline.

Pauline, who plays the piano herself, first introduced Cyrus to the instrument when he was five. Later, she enlisted the help of Dr. Wendy Yamashita, a piano faculty member of the University of Hawaii and a prodigy herself, to further fine tune her son's talents.

"Obviously, I wouldn't know how to nurture that or what to do about that. I told Wendy that Cyrus likes to compose his own songs and Wendy is very nurturing, encouraging and supportive of that. She would give him assignments where she would tell him to come up with a piece of his own that centers on a certain theme, like thunder or happy birds," she says.

Often Cyrus would think about the theme in his mind before recreating it into a piece of music on the piano. This has led to two compositions so far — "Autumn Breeze", which he composed last fall, and recently, "Winter Spirit". He is in the midst of composing his third song, "Spring Blossom".

Not wanting to stop there, he wanted to put his music to good use by recording them on CDs and giving them away for a good cause. The donations from "Autumn Breeze" went to the United Way, while those from "Winter Spirit" went to the American Red Cross for the tsunami victims in Japan.

"I went from door to door in my neighborhood to collect donations in exchange for a free CD," says Cyrus.

Cyrus himself was personally affected by the tsunami. When the 8.9 magnitude offshore earthquake struck Japan on March 11, he was told to leave his home and evacuate to higher grounds. Although his home was spared, the incident terrified him. From that day on, Cyrus kept up with news of the tsunami victims in Japan. Feeling especially sad about those that don't have a home to go back to, he decided to do something for them. So far, he has collected about $2,000 for the Hawaii chapter of the Red Cross. It's no small feat, and like we said earlier, Cyrus the Great would have been proud.