A one-handed pianist who was made fun of and told to stop wasting his time after he enrolled in a music school has had the last laugh as he proved everyone wrong.
Despite being mocked for his passion for learning to play music because he was born with one hand, 30-year-old Nicholas McCarthy never gave up.
As the Surrey-based Englishman explained, he was told to quit wasting his time when he went through with his first audition and applied at a music school.
Watch One-Handed Pianist Perform After Being Told To Stop Wasting His Time!
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“I was always drawn to the piano, even in primary school when we had assembly the piano was the most attractive part to me,” he said.
“Being told I could never be a pianist was crushing, it was as if I had been told that through no fault of my own, I could never have the career I dreamt of!
“I was always creative, and I was always drawn to anything that I could make – so much so that in my youth I first wanted to be a chef.
“I don’t think it mattered what it was, as long as it involved putting ingredients in any format together to make something new.
“Knowing what I wanted to do when I was young helped massively because I had that sense of teenage invincibility so I couldn’t see any limitations in myself.”
As the successful pianist added, his drive to prove himself capable led him to graduate from Royal College of Music, something that his former teachers would never dare to imagine.
“When I was 14 I had that Eureka moment, when a friend played a piece of Beethoven in assembly, suddenly everything made sense to me and I thought this is what I want to do,” Nicholas added.
“When people told me I would never be able to become a pianist I couldn’t accept it, being told you can’t follow your passion because of something out of your control does not make sense to me.
“It meant so much to be to graduate from the Royal College of Music, who were so supportive, and to be the first pianist with one arm to graduate from there in over 130 years was exciting for me!”
Nowadays, the pianist can proudly say that he’s been playing in countries all around the globe and even performed during Paralympic games along with Coldplay back in 2012.
“I would love to see other people like myself get into music if it’s what they love, I don’t like the idea that anyone can be told not to do what they love before even being given the chance to try. I think now it’s about building a legacy and leaving a mark on the industry I have so much passion for,” he expressed.
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