Melissa

19 December 2023

Melissa, 19, is a music student from London. Her love for piano playing was spurred on by her love for anime which features a lot of piano scores and her favourite anime series that centres around a piano player. She gained attention in the Comicon community when she posted a video of herself playing at Comicon last year that went viral. Melissa is passionate about playing public pianos and she is part of a group of young people that go to St Pancras every Saturday to play on the pianos there.

Tell me your connection to the piano.
Playing the piano is a part of me. At first, it was just a hobby and I learnt for fun because I just wanted to learn some game and anime songs from YouTube. From there, I listened to the classical side of piano playing and as I got into it, I took lessons. In four years, I had completed all my grades. I saw that this could be a career path for me when people really liked the music I played.

How did you get into playing the piano, where did your love for it begin?
My love for the piano came from game music, mainly Nintendo games. Ever since I was seven years old, I used to play this came called Animal Crossing Wild World and the soundtrack to that game was very good and inspired me to learn the piano. From there I got into anime as anime fuses classical and pop music together.  

How would you describe your own style when you're playing and when you're composing?
When I'm composing, I link music to my emotions. If I have had a really bad day, I’m like, “Okay, I’m gonna write a song about it on piano.” But I’ve only been a composer for a year - literally, three months before I started The Piano was when I started composing and I feel like I’ve improved a lot since then. I usually relate music to the way I felt.

What did you enjoy about being involved in the first series that you hopee would be here in the Christmas Special?
In the first series, I got to meet so many different people from different towns which was cool. It also gave me a lot of confidence as I've never done anything like that before. My friends and family being there was really nice because some of them, I hadn’t seen in years.

Did you know any of the fellow pianists from The Piano Christmas Special before the programme?
I was already friends with Jared, we've known each other for years. But it was nice seeing everyone else again, it was nice being like, “I saw your episode!” Everyone was really positive, it was cool.

You performed your own composition, Reflections On Ice, at King’s Cross Station. How did it feel when you heard the applause?
After I found out that I was doing The Piano Christmas Special, I pulled the ligament in my hand so I couldn’t play for a whole month, and I had to keep going hospitals. Not playing piano for that month was really hard for me and I struggled because I just love to play so much. At King’s Cross Station, it was nice having the applause, but I just really focus on the piano, I don’t really focus on what’s around me but after the performance, I’m like, “Oh yeah! Hi!”

Can you share a special moment from the Christmas special that stood out to you?
I liked when Mika and Lang Lang performed and there was a choir flash mob! I loved the choir, the musicians in their Christmas costumes and all the Christmas decorations because there were so many people getting the Christmas spirit. Mika and Lang Lang’s performance was really good.

What Christmas song or piece of music represents Christmas to you the most?
Probably Carol of the Bells because I’ve arranged a version of it myself and in terms of playing it, there’s a lot that you can add. Another song that I like is, This Christmas by Donny Hathaway.

Why do you think that music is so important to people at Christmas time?
It brings family and friends together especially around that time and it’s a time to support everyone.

What’s next for you?
I'm studying a BA in music industry and performance, which is more popular music because I want to be one of those pianists that can accompany anyone in any genre. I'm more neoclassical in terms of I'm more of a soloist but learning how to collaborate with other people and genres that I'm not familiar with is going to be really helpful for me in the future so I decided to do a BA in that so it's a bit different.

Do you think The Piano has encouraged people to take up learning the piano?
I remember bumping into a girl and she was like, “Oh my God, you were really good on The Piano! You inspired me to do my own song for the audition for series two.” That felt really nice because when I performed in series one, I was just being myself, playing one of my own compositions.

What advice would you give to any budding pianist?
Anyone can play the piano in many different ways. I feel like you should play the piano how you want to play it. If you want to get better at it, technique wise, then go for lessons but if you just want to play a few songs song, but not at an advanced level, then you can teach yourself. Stick at it and just don't give up, that’s my advice.