Between engagements in far flung South Korea and China, the world-famous one-handed pianist Nicholas McCarthy will be making a rare appearance in Huddersfield this month with the men of Honley Male Voice Choir.
Nicholas, who was born without a right hand, was once told that he would never become a concert pianist but did not allow his disability to get in the way of pursuing his dream. In July 2012 he became the only one-handed pianist to graduate from the Royal College of Music in its 130 year history. And in the same year, as an original member of the British Paraorchestra, he performed alongside Coldplay in the closing ceremony of the 2012 Paralympics.
The musician, who has been a guest presenter of the BBC Proms in the Royal Albert Hall, can be seen in concert at St Paul’s Hall, Huddersfield University, on Saturday, September 9. Immediately after his Yorkshire engagement he’ll be embarking on a major tour of Chinese cities.
As well as confounding the naysayers, Nicholas is also a role model for those who fear they’ve left it too late to learn a musical instrument. He was 14 before he began playing the piano, but by the age of 17 was deemed good enough to be accepted into the junior department of the Guild Hall School of Music and Drama.
He 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 World War One, as a result of the many injuries suffered on the battlefield.
Among the pieces he will be playing in the programme for Huddersfield are Gershwin’s The Man I Love, Rachmaninoff’s Springwaters, Sheep May Safety Graze by Bach and Casta Diva from Bellini’s Norma.
Tickets for the concert, which starts at 7.15pm, are £12 from tickets@honleymvc.co.uk, 01484 810288.
