Tony O’Brien - Pianist and composer

Educated by the Christian Brothers in Plymouth during the 1970s, and inspired by their sadistic methods, I contemplated joining the priesthood until an embarrassingly loud attack of flatulence during the most solemn office of the Mass put paid to that ambition.  Instead I won a scholarship to study at  Oxford University and graduated with a first class honours in Chemistry, and subsequently gained a Masters in Statistics.

I then slid down the greasy pole to my first job in the civil service at the central statistical office. Here I met  the corrosive neo-liberal economist,  Ruth “Less” Lea, accompanying her at the piano as she performed her own songs, notably “Bucks Aeternum”, “O Lord, Free that Market”  and “Gush Up, Trickle Down”.  I had to leave the civil service after my untidy office waste-bin threatened national security, rendering me liable to prosecution under the Official Secrets Act.

My career stumbled on through other humdrum  jobs and professions -  morgue attendant, leaf blower instructor, advanced leaf blower instructor  - until a chance meeting with the eminent philanthropist , Colonel Spinoza, changed the course of  my life.

The Colonel had just opened his first wildlife sanctuary, “The Fat Cats of Penge”, and employed me as game warden. I loved rehabilitating the real victims of the great 2008 financial crash - the bankers who had lost both their bonuses and their prestige. Colonel Spinoza’s arrest and subsequent conviction for “crimes against humanity” unfortunately ended this chapter in  my life.

Throughout life’s ups and downs, and since the age of 6, I have avidly, if not always musically, played the piano. In my teens, I was awarded a LTCL performer’s diploma in piano and have performed, intermittently and always reluctantly, at such prestigious venues as Shirley Methodist Church and Cadogan Hall. I am the first recording artist to record all Chopin’s “Ballades” backwards with ACCED, receiving rave accolades from critics and audiences alike -  “.....this is a truly retrograde step for pianism.....”  (Marget Fingerout 2014 NME).  

Convinced that great piano music has much broader appeal than to just those who frequent concert halls,  I founded

Heard In Unity  with the aim of bringing the wonder of superb live music to the home audience, with all the convenience and comfort of ordering a take-away curry.