In less than two hours, seven-year-old violinist Nick Pepi last weekend raised more than $1,000 in donations for the Coalition for the Protection of Children and the SPCA by busking on the streets of Hamilton.

Playing his violin outside Washington Mall and the entrance to Par la Ville Park, Nick raised $510, while his mother Christine Pepi’s employer, Arch Reinsurance, has promised to match that to bring the total to $1,020.

“My mom’s friends gave me a few dollars, like $60 or something, which made it more,” said Nick.

He first picked up the instrument when he was three-and-a-half years old. Nick’s foray into busking began last year in St George’s at the National Trust’s annual nature walk.

After performing with the youth orchestra, he and his father were heading to the car when Nick turned to him and said: “Dad, I want my violin. I’m going to play, and people are going to give me lots of money!”

Nick laid down his violin case and as the walkers strolled by the money rolled in. In half an hour Nick had collected $116.

“I think there were just so many people there that were music lovers,” said Mrs Pepi. “People were giving $5, $10, mostly $2. There was such a large crowd, people kept walking by.”

A few weeks after his first street performance, Mrs Pepi read an article in The Royal Gazette. The Coalition for the Protection of Children was appealing for donations.

“It highlighted children that are going to school with no breakfast or school supplies, et cetera,” said Mrs Pepi.

“I was showing it to Nicholas, and I said: ‘Look at these children. This is terrible. How would you feel if you to school without breakfast? He said: ‘Terrible.’

“I said: ‘Exactly. You wouldn’t be able to learn, you couldn’t focus.’ So I said: ‘You know, Nicky, you were able to play your violin and in that short space of time, people gave you money, and you’re doing OK. You have your parents here who are working and taking care of you, but these children have nothing. Wouldn’t it be cool if you could play your violin and people gave you money you could give it to some of these charities to help?

“He said: ‘Yeah, I think that would be cool.’ But then he said: ‘What about the animals?’”

Soon enough, Mrs Pepi had agreed to her son’s terms.

“He insisted that if he played, it would be for the animals as well. So I said: OK, fair enough,” said Mrs Pepi.

“I want another pet dog. That’s what I want, really,” Nick candidly admitted.

Other than the violin, Nick also plays the piano. His love of music began when former Bermuda School of Music tutor David France gave him his first makeshift violin.

“[David] gave him a little box, a rectangular box with a stick that you use to stir paint glued inside to make it look like a violin. His bow was a piece of stick. That’s what he actually started out with, and he had to use that to practice. Once he had that down properly — a few rhythms Mr France had taught him — he graduated to actually getting a real violin at four,” said Mrs Pepi.

But Nick doesn’t plan to stop at the violin. With idols like Queen, The Beatles and, yes, Justin Bieber, he plans on learning the guitar soon. Friends and teachers often ask where he gets his musical talent from, but with no musicians in the family that talent remains somewhat of a mystery.

“He’s always loved music,” said Mrs Pepi, who enrolled her son in the KinderMusic programme when he was just 18 months.

“We fill our home with music, and instruments ...”

Nick cuts her off.

“And rock guitars!”