SINCE being the very first one-handed pianist to graduate from the Royal College of Music, Colchester's Nicholas McCarthy has taken the world by storm.

Television appearances and high profile concerts in some of the country's best venues have followed, not forgetting the Closing Ceremony of the Paralympic Games and he hasn't stopped there.

Earlier in 2015 Nicholas announced his exclusive record deal with Warner Music, with his first album, entitled Solo, featuring 17 pieces for the left hand repertoire spanning three centuries. It was released around the world to great acclaim, securing a top 10 classical chart position and 5 star reviews.

Born in Epsom, Nicholas came to classical music pretty late in life at the age of 14.

“A friend of mine who I’m still in touch with and is a very accomplished pianist, played Beethoven’s Waldstein’s Sonata to me and I absolutely fell in love with it,” he says, “That’s when I decided I wanted to be a concert pianist.

“My parents aren’t musical at all, but they have always been incredibly supportive. They never put limits on what I could do and so when I said I wanted to be a pianist, they never said ‘oh you can’t do that because you only have one hand’. They bought me a keyboard, not a particularly expensive one because I think they thought it might be a passing fad, but they bought me one.

“I think the moment they realised something might come of it was when my dad told me to turn the radio down and I replied ‘dad that’s not the radio, it’s me’.”

Nicholas and his partner moved to Colchester back in 2013 looking for an affordable place that was close to London but one which could fit a piano in.

“Finding anything like that near where I used to live in Surrey," he adds, "was always going to be too expensive and, as Simon’s originally from

Hornchurch, we thought about trying to find somewhere in Essex.

“We love being here and really want to get involved with the community."

And he's stayed true to his word making sure there's a hometown concert on his latest UK tour, which features composers as diverse as Liszt, Bach, Gershwin, and a new commission by Nigel Hess.

Nicholas plays St Botolph's Church, Colchester, this Sunday, June 5, at 3pm. Tickets are £10, available in advance on 0800 411 8881 or on the doors on the day.