Born without his right hand, Nicholas McCarthy is one of only a few left-handed pianists in the world.

The 19-year-old only took up the instrument five years ago when he heard a friend playing a Beethoven sonata and decided he wanted to follow suit despite the obvious difficulties.

Three years later he was awarded a place at the Junior Department of the Guildhall School of Music, where he studied with concert pianist Lucy Parnham, before going on to the Royal College of Music where he now studies with Ian Jones, an international concert pianist and Steinway artist.

It might surprise you to know there are plenty of works composed just for the left hand, such as Ravel’s Piano Concerto for the Left Hand and Prokofiev’s 4th Piano Concerto for the Left Hand, many of which came about after the First World War in which several pianists lost their right hands.

The programme for the lunchtime concert includes Chaconne in D Minor, Frank Bridge's At Dawn and Tanulmany Balkezre's Bartok.

Nicholas McCarthy, Fairfield Halls, Park Lane, July 21, 1.05pm, £5. Call 020 8688 9291 or visit fairfield.co.uk.