Who is the pianist at the concert in Milan

He was born and raised in Charleston, South Carolina, but has lived in New York for a few years. great technique and a hypnotic presence, Micah McLaurin28 years old, has been playing piano since the age of 8. He took part in the first edition of the Antonio Mormone International Prize and on 31 May he will perform at the Milan Conservatory’s Verdi Hall for the Fondazione la Società dei Concerti. : Pieces by Franz Liszt alternating with Lady Gaga tunes. off stageThe divine face cannot hide its shyness, but puts it in front of a piano and the delicate features become a stormy sea.

how did it start?

My grandmother bought a new piano and gave us the old one; We’re seven brothers, mom didn’t want us to stumble across at random, so she bought a book, teach yourself to play

on the floor, And tried to teach us the basics. At first it seemed very boring to me, I could not sit still. When he stopped teaching me, I went upstairs myself and started making songs. I was very comfortable, so they sent me to a teacher who, after the first duet with me, called my mother: “Your son is a genius.” Since then, I played music when I wasn’t in school, I didn’t want to do anything else. It’s like being possessed.

What does it sound like when it rings?

I experience music on an almost spiritual level, it inspires me, it’s my way of communicating what’s in my heart. It’s my comfort, it’s helped me through difficult moments in my life, I’m very shy, I’ve never had so many friends, music has been my saviour. I can never put into words what I can say with the piano: It allows me to make connections with others.

They called him the new Liberace, the first pianist to mix the “higher” register with pop music.

It honors me: Liberace was a genius, a legend… For me it was a natural evolution: During the pandemic, I started rearranging songs that I love, Lady Gaga is my hero. In Milan, I alternated between him and Franz Liszt, who took popular tunes of the time in the 19th century and transformed them for the piano. My favorite though is Chopin – it won’t be intellectually challenging but it is so direct. No one moves me like him.

Have you ever met Lady Gaga?

not yet. When that happens, I’ll tell her that her songs and the messages in her music have given me butterflies, comforted me, and helped me.

On stage she wears very spectacular costumes: tall red capes, feathers, sequins. It’s impossible not to think of Elton John.

He is a great pianist and has a unique style. I make my clothes in collaboration with Zaldy, a really cool designer from New York.

Do you have any rituals before going on stage?

In the last hours, I try to live in my own world. I have to give more in concerts, it’s almost a supernatural dimension, I have to access a part of me inside, that I don’t really go to every day. I need to collect and equip myself. And then I eat a banana because I’ve been told it calms the nerves”, he laughs. «It would be a placebo effect but it works.