The Piano Channel 4: Yorkshire boxer Ellis impresses judges Claudia Winkleman, Mika and Lang Lang with rendition of Chopin’s Ballade No.4 at Manchester Piccadilly station

Yorkshire Post

The boxer, Ellis, from Leeds, who grew up on a council estate, learnt how to play piano through schemes from the local council.  He says that the reason why he works so hard at the piano is because he has "nothing to fall back on".  Ellis amazed judges on the Channel 4 show which aired on Sunday, April 28, 2024 and likened boxing to playing the piano.  He played a rendition of Chopin's Ballade No.4 at Manchester Piccadilly.  FULL CREDIT: Channel 4

Transcript

00:00One of the reasons why I work so hard at the piano is because I have nothing to fall back

00:09on. I don't come from privately educated music. It was all done through schemes from

00:16the council and stuff. For me, classical music is the finest form of human expression. You

00:27may not be good with words, but somehow that music explains it perfectly without saying

00:32a single word. You don't need to be a certain person to do that. I think you just need to

00:38be a human. I can say with confidence that if I didn't do boxing, I probably would have

00:49had a criminal record. The discipline you need is very similar with the piano. You need to be

00:58so willing to leave your ego outside to grow and get better. We're about to start all over again.

01:06We've got a boxer in the middle of the station. I hope he's not going to beat up the piano. When

01:12he's happy, he's going to play. When he's not happy, he's going to boom!

01:33Voila, number four is a very difficult piece.

01:43Do you think he's aware of how difficult this piece really is? Not really. That's what I love

01:49about him. He's fearless.

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