Local piano lovers will get royal treatment when Warren Mailley-Smith, known as "Pianist
to the Royal Family" will perform two shows in Wood County this weekend.Mailley-Smith, who has been
invited more than 30 times to play for the British royals, will perform Live in the House concerts
Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in the Pemberville Opera House and Sunday at 2 p.m. in the Otsego High School
Auditorium. Tickets are $10.His program will include works by Rachmaninov, Beethoven, Gershwin,
Schubert, Chopin and Grieg.In an email to the Sentinel, Mailley-Smith said he started playing in
childhood as a hobby. "I definitely wasn’t a child prodigy."Still it was something he excelled
at and enjoyed.He didn’t decide to become a professional pianist until quite late in his development. He
was in his early twenties, he wrote, "when I realized that it was starting to turn from
enthusiastic hobby to passionate obsession."He was a student at the Royal College of Music when he
was asked to play for Prince Charles. "This has subsequently led to many other occasions," he
wrote. "However, it’s fair to say that I think of all my audiences as royalty."He was a
multiple prize winner at the Royal College and that helped launch a career that’s taken him to many
illustrious venues including Carnegie Hall in New York.In 2011 he made his debut playing with the Royal
Philharmonic Orchestra performing Beethoven’s "Emperor.""I genuinely love what I
do," Mailley-Smith said. "I love the feel and sound of the piano. I adore the vast amount of
amazing music written for the instrument and I love to perform to people."Mailley-Smith said he
loves to play the music he loves to listen to "which helps me to engage more with the music in
performance.""I also try to inject as much spontaneity as possible into live performances –
and with careful preparation beforehand, some calculated risk-taking in live performance often helps to
keep even the oldest favorites from feeling stale."On Saturday from 1 to 3 p.m. he’ll take some
time to work with a few young pianists in a master class setting. "I always try to discuss things
which are particularly relevant to the performer and piece in question," he said. "Of course,
there are certain aspects of technique and interpretation which are universal – such as good practicing
habits, performing tips and so on, but I am always very conscious that there are many different ways of
achieving the same end."His performance in the county is fortuitous, he decided to book some
concerts while stateside visiting family in Chicago and San Francisco.With a career on the rise, though,
he sure to return to the United States. "More extended tours of the U.S.," he said, "are
in the planning for 2014 and beyond."
