RIDGEFIELD — Those who see images of Grammy winner Esperanza Spalding may mistakenly assume she attracted all the attention and fame she has been enjoying for nearly a decade, first and foremost, because of her tall, willowy supermodel looks.

But after sampling ten seconds of her soul-lifting musical output, nobody could deny that Spalding has earned every plaudit her global devotees have dealt — and all the critical acclaim she has received — because of the beauty, talent and gifts that come from deep inside this former childhood musical prodigy.

Local fans already aware of Spalding’s talent and sublime showmanship can visit with her in person, while newcomers can revel in the experience of catching her lightning in a bottle performance when she opens a brief early fall tour at The Ridgefield Playhouse October 1.

To celebrate her birthday later in October, Spalding decided to hit the road with longtime collaborators Leo Genovese and Lyndon Rochelle, former fellow students from Berklee College of Music.

The intimate trio performance coming to Ridgefield will include selections from her critically-acclaimed releases Junjo, Esperanza, Chamber Music Society and Radio Music Society, and possibly a sampling from a new project she has in the works.

While it’s easy to appreciate her jazzy, internationally flavored grooves just by listening to her recordings, her inspirations become all the more meaningful when taking in this force of nature in person.

And as the story goes, it all sprang from a brief few moments parked in front of the TV as a child of four, when she witnessed cellist Yo-Yo Ma playing a song on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. Something magical happened that morning, lighting a fuse that burned steadily as she taught herself violin.

“That was when I realized that I wanted to do something musical,” she says. “It was definitely the thing that hipped me to the whole idea of music as a creative pursuit.”

Within a year, she was proficient enough to land a spot in The Chamber Music Society of Oregon, a community orchestra open to both children and adult musicians. She stayed with the group for ten years. By age 15, she had attained a concertmaster position.

But by then, she had also discovered the bass and all of the non-classical avenues that the instrument could open for her. Suddenly, playing classical music in a community orchestra wasn’t enough, and before long she was jamming to the blues, funk, hip-hop and a variety of other styles on the local Portland club circuit.

At 16, Spalding left high school armed with her GED and a generous scholarship. She enrolled in the music program at Portland State University, and that’s where things really began to pick up speed.

Capitalizing on the traction she gained in that concentrated one-year conservancy setting, Spalding pulled up stakes and headed for Boston’s Berklee College of Music. After three years of accelerated study there, she not only earned a degree but signed on as an instructor in 2005 at the age of 20 — an appointment that has made her the youngest faculty member in the history of the college.

That same year, she was honored with the prestigious 2005 Boston Jazz Society scholarship for outstanding musicianship.

Following her 2006 debut, Junjo and an enthusiastically received 2008 self-titled release which generated demands to appear on numerous television shows and music specials, Spalding’s August 2010 follow-up, Chamber Music Society, set her on an upward trajectory resulting in a 2011 Grammy for Best New Artist.

She is the only jazz musician to ever receive the award in that new artist category.

In a brief chat with The Newtown Bee ahead of her arrival in Ridgefield, Spalding talked a lot about those developing years she spent between Portland State and Berklee.

Newtown Bee: You’ve probably told that Mister Rogers story a million times, but I’m more interested to know how a self-taught violin prodigy who was predominantly home-schooled so successfully transitioned into a structured academic setting as a 16-year-old college student?

Esperanza Spalding: Well, I was only self taught at the beginning, because we couldn’t afford for me to go and take lessons every one or two weeks. So I’d get a lesson or two a year and figure out a bunch of stuff to get ready for the next [eventual] time I’d see my teacher or go to participate in summer music camp.

Bee: So you were pretty good about immersing yourself with other musicians when you couldn’t attend lessons regularly.

Spalding: I did join music programs. I was in a community culture and recreational band, a community wind ensemble run by local jazz musicians, and I was in the Chamber Music Society of Oregon. So I was already in structured environments, I just wasn’t in private tutoring, you know?

Bee: But that jump to the university must have been quite a stretch at 16.

Spalding: But I’m so glad that I did it because that was a conservatory setting, and it was so much harder than anything that happened at Berklee. So I had this concentrated year with high expectations and a very challenging curriculum that was very rigorous with teachers who were very serious.

Bee: So did it involve mostly jazz or classical instruction?

Spalding: It was mostly a classical context with jazz only allowed as a minor. So when I transferred to Berklee after my year in Portland, it was like the four years of the [course] Traditional Harmony was the same as one semester at the conservancy. (laughing) Berklee was a breeze compared to that.

Bee: So it was like preparing for the Olympics versus participating in a top college sport?

Spalding: Right, and these were mostly classical musicians who expected a very high level of knowledge in all aspects of music. Whereas Berklee will accept anyone with a basic proficiency in the field they want to study. And the idea is, you go there and over four years you learn enough to go out into the world as a professional. But anyway, I wasn’t at Berklee for the curriculum, I was there because I got a scholarship and I was ready to leave Portland.

Bee: What was different about Boston?

Spalding: What I found in Boston was a music community that was broader and much more diverse than what I found in Portland. That’s why I really thrived in Boston — not as much as a student at the school, but as someone playing with a lot of different musicians who I think convened there for similar reasons.

Bee: And then you transitioned into being the youngest teacher ever at Berklee…

Spalding: The summer after I graduated they asked me to come on as a teacher for the summer. And that was successful so they invited me back as a part-time teacher for ensembles and private lessons.

Bee: Was it challenging to transpose yourself from one who does what she does so well as a musician, to someone who has to teach someone else to do it?

Spalding: I guess anything new can be a challenge, but I loved teaching, it’s something I felt very comfortable doing. Maybe I was just lucky because I had students that were all pretty cool. They all wanted to learn and grow.

So many students at the college level think it’s like a continuation of elementary and high school, like ‘I have to be here.’ And some students get it — like, ‘hey, this is for me — this is gonna prepare me for the rest of my life. So I’m going to pay attention because this could make or break my capacity in a certain setting in the future.’

Bee: So they really got it.

Spalding: Those are the students I had great experiences with. The ones who were seeing it as an extension of high school — well, I’ve heard that you really can’t teach anybody. They basically have to learn for ourselves and a teacher can guide us to the information- help us access it. But you can’t be forced to learn.

If you’re not going to make yourself available to learn something, the greatest teacher in the world I don’t think can do much for you.

Bee: So you are at a point where I imagine you could parachute with your music into any group and make awesome music. But what is the ideal instrumental configuration where your music sounds the best?

Spalding: There is no ideal. The ideal version is any version that is well done; that has a lot of heart, with soulful players who dig the music; good arrangements and great performance.

Bee: So specific instrumentation is not relevant to achieve a perfect outcome?

Spalding: No.

Bee: Who are some of the younger artists you are learning about, who are at the age that you were when you started in the music business?

Spalding: I just got to work with Lil Buck, although I think he’s getting pretty well known now. But he is really young, and I mean he’s still at the beginning of this whole adventure. He’s amazing, and I see him as somebody who is going to evolve into a very relevant piece of the cultural fabric. And I’m really looking to work with him as time goes by.

Bee: Tell us about the bandmates you’ll be playing with when you open your fall tour here in Ridgefield.

Spalding: Leo Genovese and Lyndon Rochelle — I actually met them at Berklee, and they were in my first band. We’ve kept playing in various configurations over the years. They’re phenomenal. They come from very different musical worlds but we have great rapport as human beings, and because they have such expansive talents we can go anywhere and do anything with piano, bass and drums.

I feel the most free in that setting — open, anything I can dream up is possible. But they really push me too. You’ll see. We have a set list, but it’s like actors who are given a scene and improvise the acting and dialog.

Check out a 2013 video of Esperanza Spalding and her trio here.

For tickets to see Esperanza Spalding on Wednesday, October 1, at The Ridgefield Playhouse visit RidgefieldPlayhouse.org or call 203-438-5795.