One of the world’s most inspiring pianists, Nicholas McCarthy was born in 1989 without his right hand and is the only one-handed pianist to graduate from the Royal College of Music in its 130-year history. In March 2018 he was awarded honorary membership to the RCM by its President, HRH King Charles.
Having performed across the globe in both recital and concerto, his recent Queen Elizabeth Hall debut recital drew The Sunday Times headline, ‘So dazzling with one hand, he doesn’t need another’.
Outside of his concert career, Nicholas is in demand as a corporate speaker and has to date given three TEDx talks. As a natural communicator he has presented various shows on television and radio including the BBC Proms and The Leeds Piano Competition, both for BBC4.
In 2022 he returned to the Hong Kong Arts Festival where he performed both the Ravel Piano Concerto for Left Hand and Benjamin Britten’s ‘Diversions’ for Left Hand and Orchestra in the same concert. This was the first time this had been accomplished since Paul Wittgenstein did so in 1951. This feat was repeated with the Ulster Orchestra at the Belfast International Festival in 2023 and later broadcast on BBC Radio 3’s, ‘Afternoon Concert.’
2024/25 will see exciting debuts with; the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra and Melbourne Symphony. He will also perform his Vienna recital debut at The Wiener Musikverein, where his hero Paul Wittgenstein (1887-1961) made his concert debut in 1914.
