At just 15 months old, Anabelle Adamson lay her little hands on a piano and played the rhymes of “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.”
At 4 years old, she became the youngest ever to be admitted to the Academy of Music for the Blind in Whittier. And at 5, she cemented her perfect pitch – a rare ability to recognize and produce any given note.
Now at just 8, Anabelle has earned the praise of Alex González, the star drummer and songwriter of the world-renowned Mexican rock band Maná. González’s solo drum performances, which can last several minutes at a time, are considered a staple of the Maná concert experience.
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In Maná’s upcoming concert in Los Angeles, Anabelle will join “El Animal," where he will give her one of his drumsticks. The other drumstick already lives in the Adamson household.
When Anabelle was 8 months old, the doctors confirmed she was permanently blind. She was born with coloboma, a condition that occurs in 1 out of 10,000 births. Coloboma occurs when a baby's eye doesn't develop normally.
This came as a shock to her parents, as they had never even met a blind person. But, her parents knew she was special and a miracle.
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“She was a gift -- God's gift,” mom Monica Adamson said.
Relying on her four other senses, Anabelle learned about the world, and music became her auditory guiding star. She developed her musical talent by listening to her grandfather play the piano.
“My dad had a piano at home and one day [at 15 months], barely even reaching the keys, she started to play lullabies, the ones we would sing or play for her,” Adamson said. “We were like, ‘Did you just hear that?’”
Anabelle was creating music before she could even walk.
Songs from the likes of Vicente Fernández and Juan Gabriel filled the Mexican first-generation household, inevitably inspiring Anabelle’s musical taste and her performances.
“She sings from the depths of her soul and when she performs with mariachi, she brings people to tears,” Adamson said.
The family's love for music landed them at a Maná concert last year. As Anabelle’s mom and dad, Scott Adamson, soaked in the energetic drum solo by González, the drummer threw one of his drumsticks into the crowd.
“My husband, being 6 feet tall, caught it. We were so stoked … we didn't think much of it,” Anabelle's mom said. “We just thought, ‘Wouldn't it be so cool if Anabelle had the pair?’”
A month went by and the Adamsons shared the story with a close friend. To their surprise, the friend happened to have a connection with the iconic drummer.
Via WhatsApp, Anabelle sent a recording of her playing a drum set and explaining how her dad caught one of his drumsticks. That recording eventually landed in front of González, who was nothing short of impressed.
González didn't just want to send her the other drumstick: He wanted to hand it to her himself. He invited Anabelle and her family to his next show coming up at the KIA Forum.
“I was in tears. I was like, 'No way. How did this happen?’ From Scott catching the drumstick to a friend listening to the story to then him watching her video ... It was just meant to be," Adamson said.
For Anabelle, the ultimate dream-come-true would be if she could play a set on González’s drums. But until then, Anabelle plans to continue sharing her talents on her Instagram and Facebook accounts, like a true musician promoting her work.
