Nicholas McCarthy - Piano

Nicholas McCarthy was born in 1989 and only began to play the piano at the late age of 14.

Born without his right hand, he is one of a few left-handed pianists worldwide and at present is the youngest sole left-handed pianist so far. At 17, Nicholas was awarded a place at the Junior Department of the Guildhall School of Music in London where he studied with acclaimed concert pianist Lucy Parham. After two years of studying at the Guildhall School of Music, Nicholas was awarded the Annual Piano Prize just before he left the school in 2008.

Since this time he has performed throughout the UK and internationally in major venues including Queen Elizabeth Hall, St Martin in the Fields, St James’s Piccadilly, Fairfield Halls, Wales Millenium Centre, Steinway Hall, The Capetown Convention Centre and Linder Auditorium in South Africa, The Vilhena Palace and the Offices of the Prime Minister in Malta. His performance at the Vilhena Palace was described by The Times as “sheer poetry.”

Nicholas studied at the Royal College of Music in London where he studied with Ian Jones and Nigel Clayton. He graduated in July 2012 and made history by being the only left-handed pianist to graduate from the Royal College of Music since it was founded.

Nicholas is featured extensively in the national and international press and regularly gives live performances and interviews on television and radio including shows for BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 4, Channel 4 and ITV. Nicholas was also featured in a documentary for Channel 4 about his involvement in the British Paraorchestra. Most recently Nicholas and the British Paraorchestra performed at the Closing Ceremony of the 2012 Paralympic games where they played alongside Coldplay and gave a rendition of the Paralympic anthem to an audience of 86,000 people and half a billion worldwide viewers.

Nicholas has received numerous awards for his contribution to music and most recently was awarded the prestigious international AMI Award for his creative excellence in music and was presented to him at a ceremony held at The London Studios.

Works performed:
Britten - Diversions on a Theme for Piano. - Sat 16 Nov 2013