Fourteen-year-old Christopher Lu sits down before the piano. With an audience straight ahead and a conductor to his left, he mentally prepares for his performance.

He takes a breath, then lets his fingers fly. They strike the keys with purpose, guided by muscle memory, not by sheet music. Bach’s “Prelude and Fugue in C-Sharp Minor” resounds through the performance hall, as the musician sways and rocks to the sound he’s creating.

No one claps when Christopher finishes playing, but not because he’s unskilled.

The teen virtuoso, a freshman at Interlake High School, Gifted International Baccalaureate program performed at Benaroya Hall April 1 at the RBC Wealth Management “10 Grands” Concert. Last month, he won the Music Teacher’s National Association (MTNA) Junior Piano competition in Milwaukee, Wis., a major award with a $1,000 cash prize and an invitation to perform during a national music conference this summer. This is one of many regional, national and international competition victories for Christopher.

Each MTNA competitor is given 20 minutes to play at least two of the four musical periods: baroque, classical, romantic and contemporary. Christopher played all four.

Peter Mack, the teen’s piano instructor and a professor at Cornish College of the Arts said two of the pieces Christopher played were extremely risky choices: “Prelude and Fugue in C-Sharp Minor” because it can be played in so many different ways, thus makes itself vulnerable to the personal preference of the judge; and Schumann’s “Abegg Variations” because it’s well recognized, thus open to greater scrutiny.

When Christopher plays, it looks like he can truly feel the music, and that may have helped him win, Mack said. It’s not just the teen’s fingers that do the moving; his shoulders sway, his face will draw nearer to the action of his hands on the black and white keys. He can play with his eyes closed.

“Some pianists stare loftily at the stars. Chris’ movement is natural, not artificial,” Mack said.

It helps that Christopher, who’s been practicing since age 5, genuinely enjoys his art. While Mei Lu, put both of her sons, Christopher and his 11-year-old brother Alexander into piano lessons, she said she’s merely encouraging of the boys’ hobby rather than insisting.

“I had no hopes,” Mei said. “It’s good to set a goal and learn from it. Learning how to play a musical instrument isn’t easy. If they can be challenged and learn from that, that’s all I could ask for.”

No one claps for Christopher when he finishes playing, because the concert hall is his piano instructor’s living room, the conductor is a baby doll mounted to a lamp in the corner and the audience is made up of dolls, figurines and miniature statues,

“It helps the students get used to playing for an audience,” Mack said. “And over there is generally where the conductor would be during a performance.”

When Christopher practices on his piano at home, instead of small porcelain statues and metal figurines, teddy bears and stuffed animals provide the practice audience. It’s helped him get used to the spotlight. While Christopher said he’d rather be a doctor than a musician when he grows up, he still loves the exhilaration of performing: playing on a first-class piano, hearing the impressive sound it makes and bringing the compositions of greats like Bach and Schumann to life.

“It’s hard not to let your body move when the music that you’re playing is that captivating,” Christopher said.