Piano man hoping debut single hits the right notes

A former West Nottinghamshire College student, Chris, aged 31, lives and breathes the piano, working as a piano consultant at Sherwood Phoenix, the Mansfield-based world-renowned piano retailer, on Rosemary Street.

On his website, Chris says he is ‘noted for transcribing natural phenomena and citing the neurological condition synesthesia as influences in his compositions’ – synesthesia is when people hear music but see shapes, or hear a word and see a colour.

His debut single Stone Giant is taken from his album Synthesis, which he is working on releasing as soon as he can.

Inspiration for Stone Giant was influenced by what he calls ‘a life-changing experience’ and represents ‘the breath-taking and immense sights of the Grand Canyon which I was fortunate enough to experience on a tour across America’.

Chris, who grew up in Mansfield and now lives in Boughton, near Ollerton, said: “I heard the chords vividly sounding in my head as I looked out. I knew instantly that I had to find a way to express this sense of beauty, awe and wonder. I created this piece to transport myself back to the euphoric emotions I found there; it was like a sudden awakening after a long, deep sleep. It is my wish that the music will resonate and connect with others in such a way.”

For Chris, music, and the piano itself, offers an opportunity to get into his own world to create a story.

Chris has been filming at Clipstone’s former colliery, with a crane lifting a grand piano into place.

He compared the space within the site as an ‘iron cathedral’, and a perfect local site to choose for videos and photography.

Chris admits to waking in the middle of the night to note down his thoughts on music and ideas for pieces of music.

He says that music has the ability to open minds, adding: “Music is bigger than me. You just don’t know the power it has but you know that everyone will get something from it.”

Chris’s website chrismiggells.com is the place to visit to see his work.