#12 One handed pianist Nicholas Mccarthy and his unique career.

The Brettybang Show

Nicholas McCarthy was born in 1989 without his right hand and only began to play the piano at the late age of 14 after being inspired by a friend play Beethoven’s Waldstein Sonata.

Having once been told that he would never succeed as a concert pianist, Nicholas would not be discouraged and went on to study at the prestigious Royal College of Music in London. His graduation in July 2012 drew press headlines around the world, being the only one-handed pianist to graduate from the Royal College of Music in its 130 year history.

Nicholas is a champion of the dynamic and brave world of left hand alone repertoire, a repertoire that first came into being in the early 19th Century and developed rapidly following the First World War as a result of the many injuries suffered on the Battlefield. Paul Wittgenstein was responsible for its 20th Century developments with his commissions with Ravel, Prokofiev and Benjamin Britten amongst others.

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Having performed extensively throughout the UK in all the major venues including The Royal Albert Hall. Internationally Nicholas has toured South Africa, South Korea, Malta, Kazakhstan and the U.S.

Also widely featured throughout national and international press and regularly gives live performances and interviews on television and radio including shows for BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 4, BBC television, Channel 4 and ITV. Nicholas has featured in documentaries for the BBC and Channel 4.

Summer 2014 saw Nicholas present two of the world famous BBC Proms on BBC4 television.

These television appearances have been responsible for drawing a cross section of new audiences to his imaginative and engaging recitals.

One of Nicholas’s proudest moments was performing with the British Paraorchestra at the Closing Ceremony of the 2012 Paralympic games where they played alongside Coldplay and gave a rendition of the Paralympic anthem in front of an audience of 86,000 people and half a billion worldwide viewers.

As a keen supporter of charities he is Patron of Edric (European Dysmelia Reference Information Centre), Carers Gloucestershire, Create ,The Towersey Foundation. Nicholas is also ambassador of The One Handed Musicians Trust (OHMI) and Reach. Also keenly working alongside other charities including Scope and The Tadworth Children’s Trust all of which are very close to Nicholas’s heart.

Speaking engagements have seen Nicholas speak across the country in a range of schools and businesses including Goldman Sachs, ITV, Young Enterprise BFI event and most notably his TED Talk at The Royal Albert Hall.

In 2015 Nicholas attained official Yamaha Artist status and is an Ambassador for the stunning Yamaha CFX Concert Grand, Nicholas’s piano of choice.

Earlier in 2015 Nicholas was thrilled to announce his exclusive record deal with Warner Music, his first album is entitled Solo and will feature 17 pieces of left hand repertoire spanning three centuries and will be released in the U.K and U.S in September 2015.

Patrick Lemanski, Head of Classics at Warner Music UK, said “When we saw Nicholas in concert for the first time we were blown away by his artistry and warm connection with the audience. He truly is a one-of-a-kind artist who gets people excited about Classical Music in a unique and modern way. We’re delighted he’s now part of the Warner family.” www.facebook.com/brettybang www.instagram.com/brettybang www.twitter.com/brettybang SNAPCHAT BRETTYBANG