DANNY age 26 from Manchester won in the fourth week at Birmingham New Street station. The Judges liked his harmonies and how he uses the piano to express himself transforming reality into something more joyful. The first person he called to say he had got through to the final was his mum, Bernadette.

Congratulations on being chosen to perform at the Royal Festival Hall, how did it feel finding out that Lang Lang and Mika had been watching and that they had chosen you to perform at their special concert?

For me it was genuinely mind blowing, and as a mental health public speaker, I always tell people at my talks to live as their authentic selves and to push their comfort zones. And this is exactly what I had to do at Birmingham New Station, and finding out that Lang Lang and Mika were watching was an immediate win for me. I hadn’t performed in 10 years and my ears perked up when they said my name and that I had won. I literally couldn’t speak for a couple of minutes. It was such a magical moment for me, it really was.

Tell us about your connection to music and the piano.

Since I was a child around the age of 8, I started to play around with the keys. Playing the piano has taken me through the thick and thin of life, and when I couldn’t talk about my emotions.

Music has had a huge impact on my life and throughout the show I have had the opportunity to turn it into something life changing. I have been able to turn some of the most difficult parts of my life into beautiful music. The ability to turn a negative into something positive that could help other people means a lot to me.

When did you first start playing, are you self taught? When did you start composing your own music?

My grandma had a piano when we were growing up and from the age of about 4 or 5 I would watch her play. I began to experiment when I was in primary school, and more actively at secondary school where we had a piano in the music room. I started writing my own music songs and lyrics on the guitar from about 8 years old.

How did you feel meeting Claudia for the first time at Birmingham New Station, were you nervous?

I was so nervous, and on the show you can probably see me shaking, my voice really wasn’t up to scratch. But Claudia was so warm and put me at ease immediately - she is genius at doing that! Without her I wouldn’t have done so well.

Seeing her put the whole thing into an exciting perspective and for the first time it hit home to me what was actually happening. There were about 60 or 70 people there watching which surprised me and one lady said I had a lovely tone to my voice, so to have that comment was nice to hear and really settled me. It wasn’t my best performance because of the nerves, but I felt I had done my best in the circumstances, I was proud of myself for just turning up after so many years of not performing.

Have you ever played the piano at a train station before?

I have played at every train station where there is a piano, it’s my favourite place to play, and I add on extra hours to my journey just to play.

Why did you want to take part in The Piano?

My grandma who inspired me to start playing passed away two years ago, and one of the last things she said to me is don’t forget your music. I stopped playing when I dropped out of music college, but I had promised my grandma that I would take up music again and reconnect with that part of myself. And then this came up so it was really special for me, and I wanted to do it in memory of my grandma.

Throughout the series you are all seen as storytellers, do you feel The Piano told your story well?

I really believe that The Piano told my story. Learn to Live which I wrote and played was a message to my younger self, so it was in line with my own story and it was shown well on the show. Whenever I have any issues I play the piano and I don’t think of anything else apart from the keys, it’s like a kind of blissful meditation for me.

How did you feel about being mentored by Mika ahead of your performance at The Royal Festival Hall?

I mean what a genuine privilege! Before the show I didn’t class myself as a musician, so to be in a room with Mika who was enhancing my playing, and showing me how to focus on the music was incredible. His words of advice were so powerful to me, and so helpful to my performance - I was trying to convince the audience that I was a good musician by giving them too much volume and complexity in the playing - Mika said the way to master the performance is to be comfortable feeling it, but without showing everything. Genius notes, and Lang Lang gave such great advice too.

Were you nervous ahead of performing at The Royal Festival Hall or did the adrenaline take over? How were your fellow pianists ahead of performing, were you all able to support each other?

I will be honest I was more nervous at Birmingham than the RFH genuinely! So when I got to the final there were still nerves but I had done so much preparation and had help from the judges and production team, strangely it felt less scary.

Perhaps being on a larger stage at the final rather than the intimacy of playing at the station helped. I felt because I had worked on my song that I would be able to give a more powerful performance.

Who of your family and friends were there to see you play on such a special night? And how proud of you were they?

Oh my god, there were so many. I had people travelling from Newcastle, Manchester, Leeds, London, Leicester to name a few! A section of the lower tier at the Royal Festival Hall was filled with my family - my sisters, my mum, an uncle flew over from Switzerland, my girlfriend and her family, workmates and 20 of my close friends! The support was amazing but added to a nerve wracking night, as a lot of my friends hadn’t seen me perform before.

Can you share a special moment that stands out for you from the evening?

The most special moment of the evening was when I dedicated my performance to my mum who has looked after me through the years, supported and encouraged me in my music. The audience gave such a great round of applause for her, and that was really special for me. She has been waiting so long for the moment to see that performance, it was a special moment for her as much as it was for me.

When you turned up at Birmingham New Station you didn’t know that Lang Lang and Mika would be watching or that someone would be chosen to perform at The Royal Festival Hall?

100% - this was my childhood dream, I thought my whole life would be music and then it was sad that I left it. Genuinely this has been such a blessing for me in the way I see the world, it’s been quite powerful, and really has been a special lifetime experience.

Do you find playing the piano therapeutic and how does it help you?

Yes definitely the piano is meditation for me, and when I need clarity and making decisions in life or even just to vent a bit. The best way for me is to express that through the piano and it helps me make sense of the world.

How would you describe your style?

Well I would say deep contemporary/ quite emotional, I haven’t been asked that before to be honest. I think raw, honest and heartfelt would describe my style best, and the ability of telling stories through the music. I have always written just for me and there is a sense of vulnerability involved. I am now sharing that with the audience and that makes the piece more powerful for me.

Do you think this series will encourage people to learn to play the piano and what advice would you give to any budding pianists?

I am hoping that it will inspire people to start to play, it’s one of the instruments that most people want to learn. I am not the best technically and that should give people the idea that you can create a bit of magic whether you are Grade 8 or just starting.

What do you hope is next for you? More music?

I am going to be recording my music and hopefully release some of that this year as well as my mental health work and public speaking. I am raising money for mental health charities : 100 Talks for Change Project and that involves travelling from Newcastle to London, 100 talks over 20 academic days across 50 schools, impacting 10,000 lives and hoping to raise money for various mental health charities. Website: www.100talksforchange.com

The Piano has been quoted as a heartwarming patchwork of human stories, would you agree?

The talent that I saw in the room at Birmingham was amazing. To see so many ordinary people come from various walks of life with extraordinary skills and together through the ivories of the keys produce a little bit of magic was so good for me.

All the Finalists were so supportive and when we first met we really hit it off and it was interesting to see and hear everyone’s different styles. They are all magnificent and the boys had such a great connection with Lucy. There were so many lovely moments especially when Lucy said my name after I played. Her family said if she remembers your name and applauds your piece that is one of the best compliments you can get.

We all just wanted everyone to do so well, and the support and encouragement we got and gave each other was really really nice.