A young musician has big dreams of a future after his luck struck when a talent show producer discovered an online video of him playing piano in a shopping centre.
Brad Kella, winner of the second series of The Piano, was encouraged to audition for the Channel 4 show after wowing shoppers at Liverpool One.
The 23-year-old, who grew up in Bootle, Merseyside, dedicated his debut single, “Eve and Frank”, to his adoptive parents.
Despite dropping out of GCSE as a teenager and not being able to read music, his talent was recognised and he won a scholarship to the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA).
“I applied to the Piano TV show with no expectations,” Brad said. [BBC]
Kera said about “The Piano Lesson,” “I just applied to the show with no expectations.
“I turned up to the audition in Manchester in a tracksuit and didn’t look like a pianist at all, but they said they were amazed.”
“I performed one of my own songs. The other contestants were performing classical standards and everyone told me not to do it because it was dangerous.”
“But the judges, Lang Lang and Mika, really liked it.”
Brad signed with Liverpool-based label Modern Sky. [BBC]
In the show, host Claudia Winkleman meets talented pianists at train stations around the country and performs for passers-by while judges Mika, pop star, and Chinese pianist Lang Lang secretly look on.
Kera, who is set to release her debut album in the new year, co-wrote the single with British orchestrator Rosie Danvers, who has previously arranged for Noel Gallagher, Adele and Michael Kiwanuka.
Speaking about what it was like making his first album, he said: “They sent me to RAK Studios in London.
“The world’s best string players were playing from pages and pages of sheet music, but I can’t read music, so I just remembered it in my head and got through the eight-hour concert.
“I was 13 when I first saw the piano. Now I’m 23, so I feel like I was born to play the piano.”
Kera will also perform at this month’s Labour Party conference in Liverpool as part of a programme showcasing the value and influence of the UK’s creative sector.
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