Concert pianist Angela Hewitt says music brings its own rewards

A few years ago, Angela Hewitt was in a taxi in Atlanta, in the southern US state of Georgia. The taxi driver said to her: "So what do you do?" "I play the piano around the world," she answered. "Oh my," replied the driver, "that sure sounds relaxin'."

It was the first time that anyone had suggested to the Canadian-born international concert pianist that her profession - and vocation since she was nine years old, when she gave her first full recital - could possibly be a doddle. And the whole idea made her laugh.

Hewitt remembers when she first arrived to live in Britain in 1985 and visited the British School of Osteopathy. While she was being treated by one of the students, the tutor came into the room and asked her what she did for a living. When the musician said she was a concert pianist, the response was: "Oh my God, there is no profession in the world more stressful."

Hewitt now thinks that, "it can be relaxing sometimes, but on the whole you don't do it to be relaxed".

That said, the 55-year-old does have a secret weapon against the exhaustion that arises from a schedule of more than 130 concerts and master classes every year. Although some things (including her hot water bottle) stay permanently in the suitcase, Hewitt does spend an inordinate amount of her spare time packing bags.

"I do look after myself," she says. "I don't take caffeine, I don't drink much alcohol. I don't take wheat, I try to stay away from dairy and I try to stay away from sugars. I learned about that when I turned 40. As a kid, I'd get sick all the time. People didn't know about allergies and food intolerances in those days. Finding out about it changed my life.