Viral shopping centre pianist releases debut single

A young musician whose lucky break came when talent show producers found an online video of him playing the piano at a shopping centre is dreaming of a big future.

Brad Kella, who won the second series of The Piano, was encouraged to audition for the Channel 4 programme after he wowed shoppers at Liverpool One.

The 23-year-old, who grew up in Bootle on Merseyside, has dedicated his debut single Eve And Frank to his foster parents.

Despite walking out of his GCSEs as a teenager and not being able to read sheet music, his potential earned him a scholarship to the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA).

Speaking about The Piano, Kella said: “I just applied for the show, expecting nothing to come of it.

“I went into the Manchester audition wearing a tracksuit… not looking like a piano player at all. But they were blown away, they said.

“I played one of my own songs. Everyone was advising me not to, because other contestants were playing classical standards, and it was a risk.

“But Lang Lang and Mika, the judges – they loved it.”

On the show, host Claudia Winkleman meets talented pianists at train stations across the country before they play to passers-by while the show’s judges, pop star Mika and Chinese pianist Lang Lang, secretly watch on.

Kella, who will release his debut album in the new year, had his single co-written by British orchestrator Rosie Danvers, who has previously arranged for Noel Gallagher, Adele and Michael Kiwanuka.

Discussing what it was like to make his first album, he said: “They sent me down to RAK Studios in London.

“Some of the best string players in the world were there, reading through pages of manuscript, but I managed to get through the whole session – eight hours – just remembering it off the top of my head, because I can’t read music.

“I was 13 when I first saw a piano, now I’m 23, so I feel like I was born to do it.”

Kella will also perform at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool this month as part of a programme demonstrating the value and impact of the UK’s creative sector.

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