Tonight, the piano's at Manchester Piccadilly,
where we're looking for talented amateur pianists
to take part in an incredible concert
at Birmingham Symphony Hall.
This is the City of Music.
It's not just Oasis -
Chopin even performed here.
One of the biggest statues of Chopin in Europe is in Manchester,
did you know that? No, I did not know that.
Let's go and meet our mentor.
Come on, with your white collar.
Aw, thanks. It's very smart. It is.
You can take it off and put it in the wash.
I like it!
OK, tell us all about the mentor.
She is the real deal.
She plays all over the world.
She's recorded albums
that have accumulated 500 million streams.
Wow. She's the leading classical pianist of her generation.
She is Alice Sara Ott and she is amazing.
Yes!
Welcome to The Piano. Thank you so much.
I was so nervous. No! Really? Were you?
I've never played on a station piano.
I never dared to do that, so...
No, but you're the best... I know.
..on Earth.
And I really like your fringe.
You have a beautiful fringe.
We're having a fringe-off.
Everyone, Alice Sara Ott.
Platform two for the
10.33 Northern service to Hadfield.
Alice, what was that piece of music?
That was so beautiful. Thank you.
This was actually by a composer called John Field.
John Field lived in the 18th century,
and is the inventor of the nocturne.
What?! Yes. Yes.
So when we talk about the nocturne,
we often connect it to Frederic Chopin,
but Frederic Chopin was only four years old
when John Field wrote the very first nocturne.
No! This is mind-blowing. And in what country?
Ireland. What?!
The nocturne was not invented by Chopin,
it was invented in Ireland by John. By a man called John.
What are you looking for?
When I listen to someone for the first time,
it's not so much about, like, the technical skills or...
What the piece is, for me,
it's about what I feel in that moment.
That is something I find so beautiful and powerful about music,
and especially in a train station.
Alice, already, you are staying with me forever.
Passengers travelling to Leeds, Saltburn and Scarborough,
please note there are no direct services to these stations today.
Our first pianist only recently celebrated his seventh birthday.
This just looks like Liverpool City to me.
My name's Edward. Well, everybody calls me Teddy.
You can decide, like, what name you want to call me.
What's it like being seven? I feel taller,
because before I was, like, this tall and now I'm, like...
..this tall.
Right, ready, Teddy? Yes. Here he comes.
Off you go. Walk to Claudia.
He's so small that I can't see any of him.
Hi!
Really good to meet you. Hi, Teddy. Hi.
Talk to me about the teeth.
What did the tooth fairy leave you?
It was actually £11.20 - I can't believe that.
Oh, wow!
Can I shake your hand? Congratulations.
£11.20?!
Do you love the piano? Yes.
I started first loving the piano when I was four...
Got it. ..because I had a cat piano
And I would start to play, like, Ode To Joy in C major.
Ode To Joy in C major, mm.
Well, tell us what you're going to play for us today.
I'm going to play Faded, by Alan Walker.
It's one of my favourite songs.
Like, the first time, I think I was, like, watching TV... Yeah.
..and then I stumbled into the song
and, like, I told my parents,
and without any practising, I just played it first try. No.
No. I did. No! I did. Hello?
You've got to have magic ears. I'm self-taught.
I'm gonna go and stand with Mum and Dad.
If you need anything, let me know.
How's that feel?
Can he reach the pedals? Mm...
..yes, he can.
I'm more nervous than this boy!
He's not nervous. He's absolutely fine.
OK, in your own time.
He just taught himself this song by hearing it?
Yeah. Wow.
And he's so connected with the world around him.
I love the piano because I really love the sound -
it's relaxing and it makes me happy.
It makes almost everyone happy,
especially my baby brother and all my family.
He plays that melody as if he was
describing and telling the story of a character or a person.
Mm.
Aw, that was a nice ending. Amazing!
Aw!
Not one false step.
Teddy, everyone!
He created some moment.
There was no pretentiousness, nothing.
I totally agree with you.
I have a feeling he will play the piano for the rest of his life.
Mm.
Well done, Ted!
We're so proud of you.
Claudia was very proud of me as well.
I'll get the umbrella when we get out.
Due to today's wet weather,
please take extra care whilst on the station.
Hello! BABY BABBLES
Hi! I like your jacket.
It looks casual. He's, like, got it all sorted.
Does he like piano?
Yes. Thank goodness for that.
I'm Andrew, I'm 52 years old,
I repair and paint cars for a living.
I've always loved cars.
We moved to a farm when I was about nine years old,
and the next farm on the road, they had a scrapyard,
and they used to give me a car to play in the field with,
and I've had cars ever since.
That's what I spend my time doing -
messing with my cars,
playing the piano and doing the garden.
The Revolutionary Etude - oh, my God!
Ooh, that's a difficult piece.
How many times have you played it?
I've failed playing it
more times than I've successfully played.
Good luck, Andrew.
I started playing when I was six years old.
I got a job when I left school, at a music shop.
They sold all these electric pianos, and the demo button on the piano,
one of them was this piece of music, and I fell in love with it.
Chopin wrote this piece when he heard about
the fall of Warsaw to Russia,
and it's filled with the rage
and the despair that he felt at the time.
In 1831, Chopin displayed his feelings.
It has aggression, it has radicalness in there,
and at the same time,
you know, you have to function all the time.
You have to be aware of every little movement.
When I discovered the classical repertoire, I got right into it.
So I decided I wanted to go to music college,
but I used to get very nervous performing
and I didn't complete my course.
I didn't play the piano for ten years then,
until my old piano teacher contacted me
and encouraged me to start again and take it up.
I'm very impressed, because even if you're in full control
and you have this experience of playing this very difficult music
every day onstage,
even then, you know, it is a very risky piece.
Bravo.
Andrew, everyone!
It's been a big battle for me over the years with nerves,
so to do something like this, yeah, it's quite an achievement for me.
I'm proud of myself.
How do you keep yourself calm before a performance?
I speak to my crew. Mm, that's nice.
I actually play video games before going onstage.
Yes, I have a Nintendo Switch I travel with. What?!
What? Are you serious? Yes!
BEEPING
Yeah. Well... And this is the bell.
BEEPING That's,
"Excuse me, please."
How pathetic is that?
I'm Joanna, I'm 44.
I live with my husband Ben
and my two wonderful boys, Billy and Ollie, in South Yorkshire.
Hi! Hiya!
I'm so excited to meet you.
Not as excited as I am. Look, I can't even walk!
Do you want any help, my darling? Thank you.
SHE TICS
Tell me all about you and the piano.
Started when I was nine... Yeah.
..all thanks to my dad. Yeah.
Went through all the grades.
I just loved it from day dot. Yeah.
"Which would I find the most fun,
"Hula Hoop dancing
"or doing the three-legged race with one of you?"
I have always been so sociable.
Every job I've ever had has been using my love of music
to live a really fabulous life.
I was 28 when I decided I was going to be a teacher.
It wasn't work, it was just joyous.
And then I got this opportunity to become head of music
in a huge secondary school.
I had all these ideas, I had a five-year plan, and...
..then I got poorly.
My hands are tingling,
my legs are numb.
I had moments of paralysis in my entire body.
My speech is already starting to go.
I was in incredible amounts of pain
and not able to play with my children.
I've still got it!
I was officially diagnosed with multiple sclerosis,
and then I started having all these physical tics...
It's a good job the neighbours understand, isn't it?!
..and vocal tics as well.
SHE TICS
And they actually diagnosed me with functional neurological disorder.
It's where the signals between the brain and the body misfire.
I had to make the decision that I wasn't going to be able to
go back into teaching.
My piano was delivered home,
and I just stared at it
because my hands just couldn't do what they used to do.
It's been really tricky trying to get my fingers moving again.
I had a fear of trying to play. I'm so sorry.
You're now panicking, aren't you? No. You're now going,
"Hang on, you're here to play!"
No, we could do something else if you want.
Let's do roly-polies. Yeah!
For eight months, I didn't touch a piano.
Ding-dong. Ding-dong.
It just felt like
that's something that's in my past.
But you can't have a piano sat in your house
and it not keep calling to you.
Shake it off.
Ready to go. Go on!
To begin relearning,
I've had to try and rebuild and rewire parts of my brain...
..but playing the piano helps reduce pain...
..so it's been worth the hard work.
She's playing it with a lot of grace, huh?
And the control she has... Yeah.
..in creating these dynamics, it's incredible.
There's intention and care in every note.
Piano is a percussive instrument... Yeah.
..but we want to make it sing.
That is the highest goal.
And she's actually doing that.
She's the best person I've ever heard play the piano,
and I'm so proud.
Shall we go down? Yeah.
Yes!
Amazing!
You were amazing! Do you want a cuddle from your boys?
Boys, come cuddle Mummy!
Go on. Cuddle Mummy.
Ah, look!
Oh!
It's OK. It's OK.
It's OK.
It was really beautiful.
Oh, it's an honour to meet you.
No, it's so... It's so beautiful.
You know, you're not playing
a percussive instrument, which the piano is,
you were singing.
Thank you. With grace... Thank you.
Yes. ..and control and emotion.
It's true.
Thank you. Whew!
Whew! Everyone, Joanna!
The piece is called Song Without Words,
and they said I'd made the piano sing.
I loved that so much.
I got a picture! Oh, did you get a picture?
Platform ten for the service to Cardiff Central.
We're at Manchester Piccadilly,
where Mika and Alice Sara Ott
are the hunt for Britain's best street pianists.
What is... But you could do it too.
..happening right now?
Why do you do this?
Because it keeps the hands warm to play piano.
Look at that!
That is the first time in my life
that I've seen someone do this!
Next to play for us will be 20-year-old local student Nico.
It feels quite comfortable performing in Manchester today.
Didn't have to travel far. Go on!
Come on, kid. You good?
You want to be in the vid? Yeah.
Show us a pose.
Come on.
Come on, kid.
Hello. Hello, miss.
Hi, Nico, I'm Claudia.
Nice to meet you, Claudia. Nice to meet you.
Tell me all about you and the piano.
So I started when I was 16. Yeah.
It was a bit random. Yeah.
You know, I just told Mum,
"Shall we get an electric keyboard?"
At the end of the lockdown,
we were just bored, and I just tinkered
and I just enjoyed composition,
so I just carried on.
Every week, I was composing something new. Oh, wow.
To start with composing, it's different.
Tell me what you're going to play today.
So it's called Da'a Villa, which is Romanesque for From The Village.
Yeah. Because I have Italian heritage,
I'll try and leave a little piece of Italy
in every, you know, composition that I can.
That's so lovely.
I was born in Rome,
and then at seven, I came to Manchester.
I was raised by a single mum.
She worked two jobs, so I spent a lot of the time at my nonna's
house, north of Rome.
She definitely helped raise me.
When I started to play the piano, I said to my nonna and my uncle,
"I want to do piano as a career."
My uncle's looking at me like,
"Come on, like...
"..it can be a hobby."
I put my hand on the piano, just started playing, and he said...
"That's what you're gonna do. That's what you're gonna do."
Wow. That was a nice start.
He's got a lot of Italy in him.
It's like a musical DNA kind of thing.
My nonna was a very important person to me.
She passed away in 2024.
My composition is to remember her...
..because her presence is still with me, you know,
now and every day.
His composition is ambitious.
There are lots of really beautiful, powerful, very emotional elements...
..and you are transported into an era you didn't expect at all. Yeah.
He's got his gold chain, he's got a black parka on.
You can't judge the book by its cover. No, you can't.
Lovely!
Brilliant! Wow.
Incredible.
Nico, everyone!
It was brilliant. Well done.
If he started at the age of 16,
and in four years, he can play at this level... It's amazing.
..I think he has a lot of potential and he will grow so much.
I brought Italy to Manchester Piccadilly.
I'm a bit upset that it's over, you know what I mean?
I wish I could do it again.
Platform two for the service to New Mills Central.
How old is...? He's ten weeks.
Is he supposed to be having a nap?
Um... Because he might find the music....
Well, that's what I'm thinking.
Yeah. I've not stopped swinging.
I remember that.
You sway even when you're not holding them.
I remember that, yeah.
My eldest is 23, but I remember this. Aw!
My name's Emma, I'm 15 years old,
and I've been composing my own music since I was about 12.
What's it about?
There was a boy that I liked... Yeah?
..and he was giving mixed signals.
Annoying. That's what boys do. Yeah, super annoying.
So I kind of wrote this song about how
I didn't know whether he liked me back or not.
I love the fact that you took all of that,
because boys are annoying...
Yeah. ..and then put it in a song. Yeah.
Wow.
I like some of these ideas very much.
Do you hear the story between
the boy who was messing her around...?
You know what I hear? Is fragments of feelings.
You make it sound so beautiful - "Fragments of feelings."
It should be called that, the piece.
My name is Andi,
I live in Stockport, but I'm originally from Romania.
This is my own composition.
It's a reflection of my past.
It's, again, his composition. Everybody's got so much courage.
My biological parents abandoned me,
and after that, I've been fostered,
and then I was part of a religious sect.
I had no control over my thoughts,
I was constantly told what to do.
However, we had a music room in there,
and we had a very old piano.
It was my safe space where no-one knows what I'm doing,
what I'm thinking of.
This kind of, like, rhythm...
Ra-pa-pa.
..it's, like, almost march-like. Mm-hm.
That is very often used in music
to connect to oppression.
Having the piano as that place where he felt like
he could express himself,
it is so powerful.
Discovering the piano woke me up.
I wanted to study music. However, the sect didn't allow me.
So without anyone else actually knowing what's going on,
I enrolled myself in a music school,
and I was asked to leave the cult.
I think if that piano wasn't there,
I probably would have not been here right now,
and I couldn't be more grateful for that.
I wasn't expecting something so grandiose.
But that happens when you're in a contained space -
you develop what freedom means, because you can't censor notes.
You can't censor a note.
There's lots of really beautiful, powerful elements...
..but there was a certain repetition in it for me.
I play a lot of music by composers
who have passed away 200 years ago.
What sets them apart is
there is something about their music that is unpredictable.
When I play a Beethoven
and he has this moment where you go, like,
"How on Earth did he come to that resolution?"
Creativity can be spontaneous.
You can do your own thing, and it's a good way to,
you know, set yourself free.
I'm Jamie, I'm 19.
I'm currently studying in Manchester,
but I'm from Liverpool.
I don't actually know what I'm going to play.
Jamie, he's talented.
He learns things really fast.
When he was little, he was playing piano one day.
I didn't even realise that he was learning
the Pirates Of The Caribbean,
and then two days later, he was saying,
"Mommy, can you film me?"
And he was able to play all of it without any notes.
How long is the service today? An hour.
I have to play serious moody music.
I'm in first year for uni,
but I go back to Liverpool on the weekends
because I play at the local parish in the church, on the organ.
It's a really small community
and the people there are really nice,
but it's a bit too classical.
It's not that free,
so sometimes I improvise in Mass.
And then I do the gospel.
Just wait for me to announce the hymn. OK.
The priest there, he gives me these books
with really strange music and he says,
"Hey, improvise in this."
That's when I discovered that improvising is, like,
kind of my thing.
What are you going to play for us today?
I'm going to do a little improvisation.
Oh. Oh, wow!
I'm gonna ask you to sing a few notes, if that's all right.
Me? Yeah, yeah.
You don't mean that. I mean that. I mean that.
No! Ah! Oh, my goodness.
And then he's gonna improvise on it. Oh! Oh, that's so cool.
I'm not allowed to sing Happy Birthday to any member of my family,
I'm that unmusical.
Just sing... Can I just press?
To sing is better.
Sing it?
# La? #
# La. # MATCHES PITCH ON PIANO
Yeah, that. I like the black notes.
Yeah, go on. HIGH-PITCHED NOTE
All right. OK, yeah.
Are you happy?
Those two notes are fine. Are they?
I want to ask you for an emotion as well.
Like, how are you feeling? Like... OK.
Enthusiastic.
Is that all right? That's a really good one, yeah.
I can't believe... We've never had this before.
This is a Piano first.
I'm now curious if he's gonna use them as a bass.
It's more going to be like an interval. Yeah.
# Da, da, da, da... #
Jaws!
# Dun, dun, dun, dun... #
Ah. It's the interval of horror movies.
Good luck, Jamie. Thank you.
I'm going to stand with your brother.
She literally couldn't have made his life worse.
He has to make a piece that's enthusiastic
based on the scariest... Two notes, yeah.
..two-note interval in the history of music.
All right, Alex, is he nuts, your brother?
MUSIC: Jaws Theme by John Williams
Do you want a minute?
Oh, I'm fine, yeah. You sure? Yeah.
I'll do a bit of the thinking right before the piece.
You nervous? Yeah.
I'm nervous, definitely.
I'm worried for him, you know?
He could have just done Chopin.
Whoa! Ah.
We were so off track.
Sometimes when I'm improvising in Mass,
I feel like I'm getting took over by, like, some spirit or something.
Like, not literally, but it feels like that.
There's no thinking involved, really.
It's kind of like second nature.
I was really thinking in a completely different way
with these two notes.
Wow.
I think it's so much more than enthusiasm.
Enthusiasm doesn't come alone, no?
There is something that leads into the enthusiasm... Exactly.
..and then there's something you have afterwards...
..and that's really nice. It's great.
Come on, he's doing it!
Even the climax, he's using those two notes!
We should go downstairs.
Amazing.
Look who came to see you. No way.
Hey, Jamie.
So nice to see you both.
Oh, my gosh. This is Alice. Hi.
You took the two... Nice to meet you.
..like, most uncomfortable-sounding notes
and you made something so beautiful.
Yeah, we were expecting Jaws...
Yeah. Yeah!
..and instead, we got David Attenborough's journey of life.
It was amazing. I'll take that. I'll take it. Yeah! Yeah!
Well done, Jamie. Jamie, everyone!
Are you happy? I'm so happy, yeah. I'm so happy.
Mika literally came out - I can't believe it!
I'll take that. I'll take that.
That was really magic. Yeah. That was super nice.
So my question is, is he a contender?
For me, yes, definitely.
Surprisingly good.
I had very low expectations -
I think you were the same.
Nice to meet you. Nice to meet YOU.
Can I get a picture with you? Yeah, go on.
I'm not saying no to you. Yeah.
Lovely. Go on, darling.
It's my daughter's 13th birthday -
could you wish her happy birthday? Yeah.
She's called Allegra.
Hi, Allegra. Happy, happy birthday.
If I were you, ask for a puppy or a kitten.
Thank you.
Next to play our piano...
I'm ready, I think.
..is 17-year-old William from Ripon.
So, William, you're a busy man. Just a little bit.
I mean, go through all the things you do,
because I've been reading about you. Yeah, yeah.
So I play loads of instruments.
I'm a pianist primarily, but I play French horn, guitar,
and I do a bit of percussion as well, which is good fun -
I really enjoy that. Is it true you're playing the French horn
in the school's version of Oliver today?
Yes, as soon as I'm done here.
I'm also a part-time milkman in the mornings,
and I now volunteer with the local Scout group with my dad.
I do want you to have a lie-down at some point.
This is a creative arts badge.
Then we've got the silver D of E, the fundraising badge.
He's not your typical teenager.
He's probably grown up a bit before his time,
but I think that's because our family
is quite different to a lot
of normal families, if you like.
Good day at school? No.
No? Well, that's the wrong answer.
My sister Ellie has a life-limiting condition
called spinal muscular atrophy,
so I help my parents look after her
and make sure that she has as good a life as she can.
We always banter with each other.
WILLIAM GROANS Yeah, just manhandle me.
But we've got a really good relationship -
very close.
I think he takes inspiration from me to keep going.
A little part of me in him, which I'm quite happy to see.
Playing the piano,
it gives me a break from the busyness of everything,
because I'm so focused on the piano,
I can't think about anything else.
He's quite an organised and straight-laced guy, right? Mm.
I find it interesting that he's brought something jazzy,
with a little bit of sauce.
And it's nice for him to have a bit of sauce.
Obviously with my sister,
it's definitely challenging at times.
I almost feel like sometimes, with all the busyness I do,
I'm kind of making up for both of us,
to make up for the stuff that she can't do, so, yeah.
William, everyone!
They love you.
I really hope he doesn't stop playing the piano. No.
If anything, that part of his life should be expanded.
It would also give him more room to really be selfish.
In a good way selfish... In a good way, yes.
..just a little bit.
Because I could still feel sometimes
he's still organising a little bit.
He's amazing. Yeah.
I'm going to go home and shout at my children.
No, don't do that!
I'm just gonna say, "Be more William."
Be more William.
Well done. Now we've got to get you to school now.
Yeah!
I'm Ida.
I'm actually born in Singapore,
but I've been here for almost 20 years.
Richard Clayderman, he was my first crush.
He has these soft brown eyes.
Oh, my goodness, Richard Clayderman!
Yeah.
So Richard Clayderman comes to Manchester station.
No! No, I mean, through your music.
OK!
Oh, God, Claudia!
Sorry, I don't know where he lives.
I imagine in a cabin.
And the mentor is Richard Clayderman.
She's going to be very disappointed when she sees us. Yeah.
Oh, my gosh, she's playing it. Yes, she's playing it,
or reliving the memory. She's playing it on her suitcase.
Yeah.
I have such mixed feelings,
because this is one piece I do not like.
You don't like it? No, I really don't.
Don't tell that to the lady that was playing it on her suitcase.
No, but she connects to this piece,
so I am touched by her performance very much.
Platform seven for the Northern service to Alderley Edge.
Hi. How old are you?
Three. Three?
You're a big boy!
Do you like the piano? Yeah?
He's so sweet.
Do you think she would notice if I just took him home?
Last to play for us at Manchester Piccadilly
is 34-year-old Brendan.
I often ask people, "Are you OK with playing in this station?"
I'm not going to ask you that because you know this station.
I do.
Last year, I was homeless in Manchester,
and this station has got a piano just down the bottom
that kept me going through that difficult moment in my life.
I played the piano a lot when I was a child.
I used to listen to TV themes
and see how close I could get to them.
The next thing I know, I'm doing a few graded examinations,
but like for most of us,
life gets in the way.
My whole career path was,
"I'm going to be a chef, I'm going to be a chef,"
so for about ten years,
the passion and the determination just sort of took me over.
Then came the idea of setting up a business,
but 2020 suddenly arrived...
..and hospitality is not a very sustainable business
when pubs and restaurants are closed down.
I tried so hard to carry on,
but it was probably about three months into Covid
when I realised that things were gonna be
very, very difficult financially.
I spoke to the landlord I was with at the time,
and the landlord was very, very nice,
but I didn't want to be difficult.
I just left, and didn't have anywhere that I could go.
I was really nervous about being homeless in Nottingham
because all my friends were around there,
so I just used the last of my money
just to go as far away as I could...
..and I just found myself in Manchester.
I remember coming off the bus
and not having any idea of anywhere in Manchester,
and so I just walked.
I stumbled into Piccadilly Station...
..and I hear the piano.
Ooh. Yeah, it's beautiful.
The piece, Hurricane, when I was writing it,
each different section,
I put different parts of what's happened.
And I'm releasing so much tension.
Wow, he put really, like,
difficult and ambitious elements in there.
And he is the first pianist today that respects silence.
The power of the space between the chords.
Onstage, we have a different perception of time,
and so actually keeping that pause takes courage.
Exactly.
There's a little bit of the piece
where you've got just the right hand playing.
I was looking back to the moment of having to leave my home,
the hesitation of popping the keys through the letterbox.
Keeping the keys in my hand,
wanting to let go, but not quite there.
What a monumental piece. Piece, yes.
It's his life...
..and music pulled him through
during the biggest challenges of his life.
Being homeless, one of the hardest things is finding something to do
and finding a purpose to keep going.
To be able to come to the station
and play and occupy my time was just magical.
That little seat and this little piano
were my little safe space of hope.
Brilliant!
Wow.
I found that really moving for so many reasons. Me too.
Brendan, everybody!
I love how he played with the keys, you know?
Starting in a positive key,
and then he changed into the dramatic C-sharp minor,
which, by the way, also Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata,
the third movement, which portrays a stone house.
And then he finishes in the major key,
it's like the resolution.
It's his life -
that's why it's a monumental piece for him, from him.
I eventually built up the courage just to message somebody
and just ask for help,
and two very special people in North Wales
offered me a place to stay
and then help find somewhere to live and a job.
But if the piano wasn't here,
I don't know whether I would be in the better position I am now.
It might be a very difficult decision today.
All the better. We don't like the easy ones.
Everyone who has performed for us at Manchester Piccadilly
has gathered together to hear
who Alice and Mika
will choose to perform at the final concert.
What did you think of Manchester?
I loved it. Yeah.
It was very emotional.
I cried, I laughed, I smiled.
When I was told Jamie was going to do some improvisation,
I was a little bit sick in my mouth.
You know, just a little bit.
And then he came up with this beautiful piece.
It was brilliant.
I could never imagine a world
where Jamie is not creating and playing the piano.
Joanna. There's magic.
She has faced more challenges than most of us.
But once she started playing,
she had full control over what she was doing. Mm.
It was so inspirational to see.
You also loved Brendan.
He is the ultimate example of
the transformative power of what the piano can do. Mm. Yes.
There was something so generous and warm in this piece.
Now comes the really tricky bit.
You won't like this, Alice,
but you are going to have to choose somebody
who's going to play in your final concert.
Do you know?
Oh, you just said yes. I think I know.
I'm torn between two.
Oh, God.
Hello, everybody.
It's so lovely to see you all together.
Have you enjoyed meeting each other? ALL: Yes!
You haven't just been playing for our lovely commuters,
you have also been playing for the amazing Alice Sara Ott and Mika.
Hi.
First of all, thank you for coming here.
I have so much admiration for your courage.
I could feel the emotions you went through,
and you did it in such a brilliant way.
Hi, Teddy. Hi.
You're a very impressive young man...
..and I hope you keep on playing the piano
even when your two front teeth come back.
Once again, we are planning a final concert.
This time, it's going to be somewhere new for us,
which is the Birmingham Symphony Hall.
We would love for all of you to be present at that final concert
because you are now all part of this journey
that is The Piano.
We are going to be choosing one person
to play onstage at that final concert.
And the person we have chosen is...
..Jamie.
You look shocked.
Thank you so much.
I just didn't expect it to happen,
and then as soon as they said my name,
I thought I was in a dream.
The reason I did this was to, like, maybe bring something new,
and now that I get that opportunity, I feel really blessed, for sure.
He's an improbable choice, almost a risky choice...
..but the possibilities are huge for a final concert.
What he did is to break this barrier.
He engages the audience, he makes them part of it,
and that, I think, what music is about.
It's something we create together onstage
and in the audience.
Well done. Wow!
But Jamie may not be the only pianist here today
to make it to the final concert.
This year, I've held back one space.
If a pianist has really impressed us,
we've got this thing called the wild card.
So the question is...
..has anybody impressed us enough for us to use our wild card?
And the answer is yes.
Next time,
we reveal which Manchester pianist will receive a wild card...
Mika couldn't bear not seeing you again.
..and after hearing all of our returning pianists play again...
# Take me to your river... #
..we'll discover who will be given the last place
at our final concert...
And I'll see you in the mentoring session.
..and to prepare them all...
Yee-hah!
..we welcome back a very special mentor...
Just like that, he came back.
Hey! ..Jon Batiste.
It's actually fun. It's got to be fun!
Ha-ha!
Subtitles by Red Bee Media