This session will explore the role of psychosocial skills in developing prodigious musical performers beyond technical and interpretative expertise. It builds on the SP/A (Scholarly Productivity/Artistry) model proposed by Subotnik and Jarvin (Jarvin & Subotnik, in press; Jarvin & Subotnik, 2010; Subotnik & Jarvin, 2005; Subotnik, Jarvin, Moga, & Sternberg, 2003) to describe the talent development process of elite performers that emerged from interviews conducted with students, faculty and gatekeepers at three highly competitive U.S. music conservatories. The model posits music talent development in three stages: (1) abilities to competencies, (2) competencies to expertise, and (3) expertise to scholarly productivity/artistry. First we will describe the SP/A model and discuss it in light of talent development models supported in the psychosocial science literature. Then we investigate how it might apply – or not – to very young performers of classical music. We refer to Ruthsatz & Detterman’s (2003, p. 509) definition “Prodigies are children under 10 years of age who perform culturally relevant tasks at a level that is rare even among highly trained professionals.” Do these very young gifted individuals follow similar developmental trajectories as the regular conservatory students who served as the basis for developing the SP/A model? Or is there a different model for prodigies?