The winner of The Piano series two, Brad Kella, has signed a recording contract with Liverpool-based label Modern Sky.
The 23-year-old, who grew up in Bootle, Merseyside, released his debut single, Eve And Frank, dedicated to his foster parents, on Friday.
At the age of seven, Kella was placed into foster care, where he was able to learn the piano through a government grant, which funded an electric piano for him.
As a teenager, he walked out of his GCSE exams but managed to earn a scholarship to the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA) despite being unable to read sheet music.
A video of him went viral after he was filmed playing on a public piano in Liverpool One shopping centre and the producers of The Piano got in contact and urged Kella to audition.
Speaking about the show, he said: “I just applied for the show, expecting nothing to come of it.
“I went into the Manchester audition wearing a tracksuit… not looking like a piano player at all. But they were blown away, they said.
“I played one of my own songs. Everyone was advising me not to, because other contestants were playing classical standards, and it was a risk. But Lang Lang and Mika, the judges, they loved it.”
On the Channel 4 show, host Claudia Winkleman meets talented pianists at train stations across the country, before they play to passers-by while the show’s judges, pop star Mika and Chinese pianist Lang Lang, secretly watch on.
Series one was won by 13-year-old blind musician Lucy from West Yorkshire.
Discussing what it was like to make the album, he said: “They sent me down to RAK Studios in London to record an album.
“Some of the best string players in the world were there, reading through pages of manuscript, but I managed to get through the whole session – eight hours – just remembering it off the top of my head, because I can’t read music.
“I was 13 when I first saw a piano, now I’m 23, so I feel like I was born to do it.”
Kella will also perform at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool this month as part of a programme demonstrating the value and impact of the creative sector in the UK.
Kella’s album is set for release in 2025.
