Anthony Ward

I've been playing the keys since I was 6 years old. In primary school assembly every morning I used to sit and stare at the piano in the corner of the room, longing to have a go on it. We had a Hammond organ at home, and that's where I started. At 8 I got a taste of the piano and I loved it. I started learning jazz at an early age, then moved into classical, and at 14 I began teaching myself some of the great piano compositions — Rachmaninov, Liszt, Beethoven, Chopin. These masterpieces make up a huge part of my playing style today. I have always been singing. As a very young boy I used to stand in the kitchen doorway and sing to the garden. Singing was always my favourite part of any assembly. After hearing Oasis for the first time, I decided I wanted to sing and play piano at the same time, and I began learning songs — The Beatles, Oasis, Ocean Colour Scene. These were some of the first bands I got my teeth into as I began writing my own songs. After gaining my degree in Popular Music and Recording in 2003, I began my career as a performer, playing six nights a week in a great band in Gran Canaria. Twenty-three years later, I've developed my own style through performing thousands of gigs for all sorts of occasions in all sorts of venues, all over the world. My job? I love it