In January 2012 I had no idea at how incredible the year ahead would turn out to be. My most memorable moment was of course performing with the wonderful British Paraorchestra at the Paralympic Closing Ceremony. We performed the song 'Strawberry Swing' with Coldplay who were just lovely, then we went on to perform the Paralympic Anthem as the flags came down and were handed over to Rio.
I cannot describe to you the feeling of sitting at a grand piano in the middle of the Olympic Stadium in front of 86,000 people that was also broadcast live to half a billion people, it was just amazing and is certainly a memory that I will hold on to forever. Playing to an audience of that scale really does make all my future concerts seem like a walk in the park. Royal Albert Hall...bring it on.
Another exciting and proud moment in the year was when I graduated from the Royal College of Music. However, a few days before I got a phone call from my professor who informed me that I was in fact the first left hand pianist ever to graduate from the Royal College. It was such a great feeling to know that I had made history at the College and it made my graduation day that little bit more special.
Amongst these once in a life time experiences, I've performed recitals throughout the year to wonderful audiences in the UK and abroad, including performing with my friend, the brilliant tenor, Cliff Zammit Stevens. We performed in a sell out, open air concert at the Offices of the Prime Minister in Malta which was just magical. The historic building along with the warm and friendly Maltese audience made this a very memorable concert.
Other firsts for me throughout 2012 was doing my first ever live radio broadcasts on BBC Radio 3. Let me tell you, in the first live broadcast, I have never been so nervous in my life, I was breathless, my leg that I pedal with was shaking as if I had hypothermia, it just felt awful. The funny thing was that it was only me, a piano and the lovely Suzy Klein in the room, so i really don't know why my nerves were all over the place. However, nerves aside, I really enjoyed the work I've done for the BBC this year including being part of their Piano Season, performing at the Welsh Millenium Centre (which was also broadcast live) among other contributions about left hand repertoire. I still feel very privileged to have been asked to be a part of everything that was going on at the time.
Charity is very important to me so I was delighted to be asked to be Patron of Carers Gloucestershire which is a fantastic charity that supports full time carers. I've also been supporting Tadworth Children's Trust which is a charity that helps children (and their families) with acquired brain injuries. It is very local to me as it is literally a two minute drive so I feel very strongly about helping raise the awareness of their brilliant work. I closed my year of concerts with a charity concert in aid of the Children's Trust which was held at Cadogan Hall and was presented by Nicholas Owen. It was a lovely evening and I'm looking forward to helping the Children's Trust in the future.
I could carry on and on about other highlights of the year, but I think this enough for now. I'm now working hard on my programmes for 2013, kicking off in February with a tour of South Africa. I'm so excited as it is my first time to SA and I've heard great things about this amazing country, I feel very lucky to have the opportunity to perform here.
One last thing, I would like to thank everyone for all their support throughout the year and I look forward to seeing some familiar faces at my concerts in 2013.
I would say I will do a blog post to update everyone, but I think you all know my blogs are few and far between. So until next time!
Nicholas x
P.s Please feel free to keep in touch on Twitter, @NMcCarthyPiano and/or 'like' my fan page on www.facebook.com/NicholasMcCarthyPianist
