The youngest winner of one of the world's most elite music competitions can't claim her prize of playing piano at Carnegie Hall - because she's too young to get the vaccine.

Mini Mozart, four-year-old Brigitte Xie only started playing piano a year ago in lockdown, but instantly revealed a talent for music.

The pint-sized prodigy can read music and play a note-perfect rendition of Beethoven's Sonatina in F Major - her feet dangling far above the pedals.

Her incredible talent saw her crowned the youngest winner of the prestigious Elite International Music Competition.

She was asked to play a concert at New York's Carnegie Hall, but can't go because all performers are required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 - and she's too young.

Pre-schooler Brigitte was forced to pull out - but will be given anther chance at a future concert in 2022.

Mum Nicole Sun, 32, from Ridgefield, Connecticut, USA, said: "She doesn’t know much to be honest – I tell her 'yeah baby you won the prize' and she was like 'ok, can we go to Disney store now?'

"She doesn’t even know what Carnegie Hall is but I tell her 'you're going to perform in front of many people' and she seemed excited because she likes performing.

"She doesn’t really know what to do in the future

"As a parent I'm still open to everything, I don’t tell her that she must be a pianist, I'm still open and whatever she wants to be is fine."

A pianist herself, Nicole wanted her only daughter to pick up the instrument, and took the opportunity to introduce her to it while under lockdown last year to keep her entertained.

"She tried to play around, but it wasn't really playing the piano, just playing with the piano," she said.

The mum started teaching her daughter, then three, but enlisted the help of online lessons from Felicia Feng Zhang of All Talent Academy.

The little musician picked up more in six months than most do in years worth of lessons, and quickly learned to read sheet music and sight read classical pieces.

Eventually, she started attending in-person lessons with Felicia in Greenwich, Connecticut, who noticed her talent and urged her to enter competitions.

Accountant Nicole said: "I remember the first time I heard her play the first piece at Felicia's studio I felt really moved.

"I didn’t know at this young age she could follow instructions and play the pieces.

"Before the media approached me I thought she was just one of the normal students."

Brigitte passed her Royal College of Music Level 1 exam before her 4th birthday in May with a first class mark of 86.

She practices for just 45 minutes a day, and has one half-hour lesson a week, but neither Nicole or dad Tao Xie, 33, have to nag her, as she'll wander over herself.

Nicole said: "Recently we have one song from one easy book called ‘Down By the Bay’ and she learned that song in her pre-school, so she's enjoying playing that one, she likes to sing too."

She won the Elite National Music Competition last December, and then in March this year won first place at the American Protégé International Competition.

The latter competition awarded her an invitation to perform at world-renowned music venue Carnegie Hall this November.

This video was filmed within May 2021.