The professional pianist reveals the similarities between preparing for music and preparing for sport and believes "If you want to be mentally fit you have to be physically fit."
Colin Jackson: How would you describe yourself?
Adam Gyorgy: I'm a musician. I use music as an international language and everybody speaks the language of music. I would say that I'm speaking to my crowd in my concerts through the language of music, so I'm a speaker in this way.
CJ: How much preparation does that take?
AG: I started to play the piano when I was four-years-old. We had an upright piano in my home. My dad is an engineer but also a fantastic amateur musician. Every night he would sit down at the piano and he would play for us. I thought to myself 'Oh this is amazing, I have to do it too.'
Since then it's been a true love and it takes a lot of passion, a lot of practice and preparation. I train four to five hours every day and on tours the preparation and practice takes the whole day.
I also research the pieces and work on my fitness because people would think that piano playing is an easy thing and you just sit down and play, but it needs a lot of stamina and fitness.
Part of my preparation is running every morning on tours and doing exercise as well as sports because physical and mental fitness are very much connected. So if you want to be mentally fit, you have to be physically fit as well.
CJ: We have lots of similarities in sport and in music. It's the way we have to prepare for the big audience, we have to get our bodies right both physically and mentally before a big event. Is it the same for you?
AG: Preparation is very personal. Everybody has to find his or her own way of preparing. I think the most important thing is to know exactly what we want and to believe in ourselves, and then really work hard for that. If we have the method, we can reach the goals.
CJ: What happens when you're tired, do you ever feel that you want to give up?
AG: No. I think it's not only about personality, but also personal training. I consider myself an optimistic, smiley person. I love to wake up every day and I find passion and inspiration in everything that I do. I always wanted to be this positive person.
I have had some bad days and some critical points and crossroads, where I could have gone in another direction, but I stayed focused on what I wanted to do. You have to be motivated, be positive and you have to believe in what you are doing.
CJ: How do you prepare for a concert that is a couple of days away?
AG: As people we all suffer with nerves at times and we all want to do the best, but sometimes doing the best is not doing the most. Sometimes doing the best is really pulling back just to be inspired again.
For concerts we have a working schedule and we always take a little break before a performance. I personally don't touch the piano on the day of the recital. I do have warming-up sessions so I am ready to play, but not at the intensity of the recital.
CJ: How do you deal with nerves?
AG: Personally I'm a calm person and not a nervous person which helps a lot, but also it's training both physically and mentally. If you hare prepared enough and you believe in your preparation, then you just have to be calm, walk on stage and believe in yourself and that it's going to work.
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