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SCMP Reporter

German pianist Daniel Rohm, 32, was raised in a house filled with music. His mother is a professional cellist  and his father plays the violin as a hobby.

The music-loving couple had a piano in the house, which Rohm was drawn to as a toddler.  By the age of three, he was tinkling the piano's keys.

'I thought it was my own instrument,' he recalled.

It was a simple start to a professional music career. Rohm won   the Lions Club International Piano Competition in Germany in 1998 and the Supersonic Award Pizzicato in Luxemburg  in 2003.

Rohm will make his concert debut in Asia this week at a recital presented by the Hong Kong Youth Arts Foundation.

The concert will begin with a light Mozart arrangement that's  ' a happy piece and is easy-listening', said Rohm.

A Beethoven sonata will follow. 'It's  a  very good composition,' he said.   'It has many things -  there is happiness and sadness.'

One of the recital highlights will be Rohm's rendition of a Schubert piece that is about 40 minutes long. 'It's  one of my favourite pieces,' he said.

As a professional  musician, Rohm  plays the piano  daily.  A successful musician  lives and breathes music, he said.

'If you can live without music, you can't be a good musician. I live with the piano, and without the piano I can't live. It's part of my life. '

The amount of time he spent playing varied - from two to six hours each day - depending on his mood,  Rohm said.   If he's  in love with a certain piece, he might  play it continuously for  an entire  day.

'Sometimes you sleep for 10 hours and sometimes you sleep for four hours,' he said.  'Some days, my piano doesn't want to create good sounds. On some other days, it just plays [effortlessly]. Every day is another day with the piano.'

Aside from music, Rohm's  interests include badminton, reading books, collecting model aeroplanes. He also   goes on nature walks  to gain  inspiration.

Being a top musician goes beyond having a sole focus  on playing an instrument, he said.

'There are so many things in this world that are  interesting. All these things go inside you and [shows when you are] playing the piano.  You must be interested in living.'

He believes that people who fail to live life to the full do not play the piano well  'because [as a pianist] you want to tell stories and show something to people with music'.

Daniel Rohm will perform on Wednesday at 7.30pm at  City Hall. Student tickets  at $60, $100 and $150 (adults $80, $120 and $180) are available at Urbtix on 2734 9009.

We have three pairs of concert tickets  and two CDs by Daniel Rohm to give away. To win,  e-mail your name, address and phone number to kerryL@hkyaf.com



Growing up with music