Aussie Hands meets renowned pianist
British left-handed pianist Nicholas McCarthy is inspiring Melbourne audiences this week, performing with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra at Hamer Hall.
Aussie Hands was welcomed to a panel discussion at the MSO, with the opportunity to meet Nicholas and hear him play.
Nicholas said he had a very unmusical childhood, but at the age of 14 he had a lightbulb moment when he heard a classmate play Beethoven’s Waldstein Sonata.
“I kind of decided that was what I was put on this earth to do, to play the piano,” he said.
For classical musicians, beginning to play at the late age of 14 would be challenge enough; but Nicholas had the additional hurdle of being born with what he calls his little arm.
“I think I was very lucky that this life event happened at the age of 14,” he said. “Teenage invincibility really provided me with a huge amount of self-propelling ambition.”
Nicholas’s determination and resilience would be very familiar to Aussie Hands members.
He said his hand difference gave him an incredibly thick skin and gave him the relentlessness he needed to persevere in the classical music industry.
“The red carpet wasn’t rolled out for me in the classical music world in Britain,” he said. “I had to bash down the doors,” he said.
Nicholas has long been an advocate for inclusion in music. He was a founding member of the Para-Orchestra, which made its debut at London’s 2012 Paralympic Games.
He said he treads two lines between what he described as the normal music season and disability programming but emphasised the real mark of inclusivity was when there was not such separation.
Nicholas was also focused on the next generation of musicians helping to develop a curriculum for one-handed pianists for the British music examination board.
“I’m very keen on changing the pathway for younger pianists so they don’t have to go through and have the awkward conversations I had to have,” he said.
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