On Sunday, 9th June, Teddy Otieno, an amateur pianist and a student at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire in England, performed at the final concert of the second season of the UK talent show The Piano. He’d practised his piece for weeks and felt confident that all those hours of rehearsals had prepared him for the big stage.
Walking up the stage, he could feel his heart race, his hands tremble, and his knees shake. He didn’t even remember how he got to the podium. Even though he had stage jitters, his nervousness was accompanied by anticipation and excitement that he had gotten that far on the show. But as he pulled back the piano stool, sat down, and hit the first key, everything quieted down, and he began to play.
“As I was walking to the stage, I looked upstairs, and I was shocked; there were so many people, and the lights were so bright. But even though I was shaking at first, the overall experience was great. I just wished my mom had been there to watch me play. I felt like I was on top of the world when I sat on that piano stool, and I’d made the best decision to choose to play the piano. I’m still processing that experience,” Teddy says.
Teddy is among seven budding pianists who were picked to appear in the seven-part series of the show after publicly performing at train stations across the UK, culminating in a final performance at Manchester’s Aviva Studio.
But before he ever set foot at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire in England to study Piano Performance, Teddy had only seen a piano twice in his life.
The first time was when a used keyboard was donated to the Safaricom Youth Orchestra (SYO), which he joined in 2015 and played for the brass section. The second time was on YouTube at cyber cafés, where curiosity led him to watch how pianists elegantly play the musical instrument.
“When I first saw the keyboard, my inner voice said, just plug it in and see what happens. I did, and it started producing these amazing sounds, and that’s when I really got into it. But as the years progressed, I couldn’t access a proper piano or lessons, so I turned to YouTube to learn,” Teddy says over a Zoom call.
On weekends after SYO practice sessions, Teddy would spend his KSh 30 lunch money and afternoons at cyber cafes watching videos of world-renowned pianists playing the piano, learning how the piano is built and how it works.
“I was so desperate, and the only way I could learn was to draw a keyboard on a cardboard and use it for reference while at the cybercafe. Years later, a piano was donated, although it wasn’t in good working condition; the pedals and some keys weren’t working. But I was just happy I could see it,” Teddy recalls.
But as much as he could see it, the keyboard was out of bounds for the kids and nobody was allowed to play it. Teddy didn’t give up. Instead, he capitalised on the friendly nature of one of the security guards who used to man the practice hall, and for KSh50 a day, he would let him practice the whole day for about six months.
It wasn’t until mid-2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, that he started getting proper lessons from Cordelia Williams, whom he met through the Art of Music Foundation, which runs the Safaricom Youth Orchestra.
“After Cordelia went back to England, I used to record my practice sessions and send her the videos to critique. She would guide me and tell me things like, ‘You need to put your hands like this when you’re playing this passage’, Teddy says.
It was Cordelia who ultimately encouraged Teddy to apply to music schools in the UK, and he applied to six of them.
The first school he applied to sent a rejection letter, and “it was really painful.” But he finally got accepted to the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, which even offered to help him raise funds for his tuition by opening a Page.
Now in his second year, Teddy hopes to become an expert piano player, travel the world performing and give back to his community after he finishes his studies in 2026.
Currently, he’s putting in hours of practice at Birmingham, which has world-class pianos of the highest standards. He’s also taking part in workshops and programmes to refine his technical and interpretative skills on the piano.
“The first time I went to the school, I was so shocked. I’d never seen so many pianos and so many students! That world made me question whether I’d made the right decision going there. But I’m lucky I got a very nice teacher who helped me develop my technique and boost my confidence in playing. She made me feel like I could achieve what I had been striving for for the past eight years and told me I didn’t go there by mistake; I deserved that opportunity,” he says.
Quite understandably, during his first year, Teddy was under pressure to prove himself and wanted to catch up with the rest of his classmates, who, unlike him, had access to pianos before. He would wake up at 3 in the morning just to be in class at 10 a.m., and he would be the last person to leave the school at 11 p.m.
Additionally, he had to work on getting over his imposter syndrome, which stems from his disadvantaged background, and stop comparing himself to other students who, like him, have creative and professional ambitions.
After the first year, confident in his abilities and coupled with affirmations from his tutor, Teddy applied to be on the second season of The Piano. Making it into the show validated for him that he was truly skilled and could compete with the best of them.
The talent competition show profiles amateur pianists who are secretly judged by Chinese superstar pianist Lang Lang and French-Lebanese pop star Mika and is hosted by Claudia Winkleman.
Going into the show, Teddy had no expectations, but the fact that he got to perform and be judged by LangLang, one of his idols who he had only seen on YouTube, “signified a huge step for me.”
“I couldn’t believe I was in the same room as Lang Lang, Mika, and Claudia, he says about his time on the show during the performance.
Teddy grew up in Lucky Summer, an estate in Ruaraka Constituency, with his two brothers. He comes from a musical family; his mother used to sing in the church choir, his little brother Dilan plays the violin, and his twin brother Lameck, who was also a Safaricom Youth Orchestra member, played the violin and now studies Viola and Architecture in the USA.
As twins, Teddy and Lameck differ in some aspects of their lives. Teddy is the quiet one who doesn’t make friends easily, and Lameck is the outspoken one who socialises with everyone.
Lameck knew from the beginning that he loved playing the violin. Teddy, on the other hand, didn’t like the tuba and wasn’t sure which musical instrument he wanted to stick with until he came across the keyboard. It wasn’t until he discovered his love for the piano that he found his voice and stopped comparing himself to his brother.
Teddy’s transition from high school, where he attended Our Lady of Fatima in Kariobangi, to university in the UK came with a bit of culture shock. But it was also an experience that has helped him become mature and self-sufficient.
“The weather was a challenge; it’s very cold, and it’s always grey and raining. So, the piano has become my escape from the dreary weather. I’ve also learned how to take care of myself, from cooking and doing laundry to proper time management,” he says.
While his time in the UK has helped him grow up, he often misses home and the connection to people and things he left in Kenya.
“I really miss tea. And loud matatus,” he says with a loud laugh. “I miss speaking Swahili too. There was a time I was walking, and I heard someone saying ‘niaje’, I was like bruh, and I followed them,”
With about two more years to go, Teddy says he no longer frets over things beyond his control. He is smarter, more confident, and more organised than he was in 2022 when he started his course at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.
“My biggest fear then was playing music from memory because I’d never done that. And there I was, being asked to memorise and play 15 pages of one music, each note to perfection. It seemed impossible. Keep in mind people are watching while you play because it’s like a proper piano concert. But look at me now,” he says.
