Ethan Bortnick

HARTFORD – Connecticut Public Television (CPTV) is set to air a new music special featuring 12-year-old composer, pianist, and entertainer Ethan Bortnick, who will be accompanied by a 50-piece orchestra and the 120-member Kids Choir. Ethan Bortnick Live in Concert: The Power of Music, is scheduled to air Saturday, May 17, 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, May 31, 6:30 p.m.; and Sunday, June 1, 3:30 p.m.

Bortnick will also be joined by special guests Damian McGinty of Glee and Celtic Thunder and Grammy-nominated vocalist Jane Monheit.

A native of Florida, where he attends a Jewish day school, Bortnick’s mother emigrated from the Ukraine and lived in Israel for 18 years.

Beyond his gifts as a musician, Bortnick is a driven humanitarian who believes that music has a higher purpose – an ability to emotionally connect people, encourage them to help others, and ultimately, effect change in the world, as presented in his own composition “Anything is Possible.” Through his music, he has to date helped raise more than $30 million for children’s charities and other causes across the world, including over 50 Jewish organizations.

Bortnick is the youngest performer ever to headline his own international concert tour, appearing in more than 200 concerts in the United States, Canada, Brazil, Japan, South Africa and Australia.