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Brendan Kavanagh

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Gazilion (talk | contribs) at 14:12, 26 January 2024 (→‎Online presence and open public venue performances: Specifying that 8.2 million was in less than 1 week). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Brendan Kavanagh
Kavanagh in 2021
Background information
Also known asDr K
BornOctober 1967 (1967-10) (age 56)
London, England
Genres
Occupations
  • Pianist
  • piano teacher
Instruments
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2012–present
GenreMusic
Subscribers2.49 million Edit this at Wikidata[1]
(February 2024)
Total views1,311 billion[1]
(January 2024)
100,000 subscribers
1,000,000 subscribers

Brendan Kavanagh (born October 1967[2][3]), also known as "Dr K" due to his PhD in English, is a British pianist and piano teacher of Irish descent. He specializes in playing and promoting the boogie-woogie genre, almost exclusively improvised, often combined with classical, jazz, blues, rock & roll, and traditional Irish music themes. He regularly performs in open venues on public pianos, sometimes in duet formats with musically inclined passers-by, friends or family. He also plays the piano accordion, with emphasis on traditional Irish tunes.[4][5]

Education

Kavanagh attended the Roman Catholic St Aloysius' College, in Highgate from 1978 onwards.[6][7] He went on to study and then graduate from Middlesex University with first class single honours BA in English. He then obtained his MA in Anglo-Irish Literature and Drama at University College Dublin, followed by a PhD in English language and literature from University College Cork.[8]

In the late 1980s, Kavanagh studied classical piano with professor Nelly Ben-Or MBE,[9] who helped him complete his Grade 8 theory and practical requirements. He credits his success today as an improvisational classical/boogie-woogie pianist to her support and encouragement of his improvisational style.[10]: 01:28 

Online presence and open public venue performances

In 2007, Kavanagh founded Dr. K Media Limited and changed his focus to online teaching, selling, performing and promoting piano music, with a strong emphasis on the boogie-woogie style. With the advent of smartphones which allow virtually anyone to capture and disseminate musical performances, he began performing in open public venues.[3]

He has performed as Dr. K, often wearing his signature dark hoodie and shades, or sometimes wearing a workman's uniform, playing incognito in front of often astonished passers-by on public pianos at railway stations, airports and other open public venues, mostly around London. His impromptu performances, often weaving together classical, boogie-woogie, Irish and popular themes, are captured and uploaded to his Facebook page[11] (with 500k followers) and his YouTube channel, where he has over 2.49 million subscribers,[1] making him as of January 2024, the 1,136th most-subscribed channel.[12] Interviewed by James Whale in December Dr K Interview on The James Whale Show/TalkTV2023[6][13] he claimed to have earnt a seven-figure sum from his channel activities that year.

Kavanagh broadcasts some of his performances directly, via live streaming.[14][5][15] A YouTube live stream, uploaded on 20 January 2024 achieved over 8.25 million views less than one week later. It showed Dr. K playing the public piano at St Pancras railway station in London, and interacting with a group of Chinese people holding Chinese flags, and two British Transport Police.[16] The group requested Dr. K not to film them and not to publish their image or voices. They cited their image rights from "Chinese TV" Dr. K declined their requests.[17][18][19][20] He countered that filming in public locations is legal in Britain, and that the group was not in China.

This produced allegations of racism from the group, with one shouting his demand for Dr. K to not touch the flag or the women and used threats of legal action. Dr. K alerted the group to other people also recording video in the area, and suggested that if they did not wish to be filmed, they should walk away. The attending police officer also requested that Dr. K not film or publish her conversation with him, which he also declined. She attempted to convince him that it is improper to say "we are not in China", but he disagreed citing a free speech issue. He also corrected the group's accusation from the police officer that he had tried to touch one of the women, offering video evidence from his camera.

World-wide interest led to Dr. K interviews with mainstream media on the topic of free-speech issues that had been raised. He joined the journalist Mike Graham and then Piers Morgan Uncensored, both programmes are on TalkTV. Dr. K told them his video clip already had two strikes for removal from his YouTube channel, and he requested viewers to download the video in case it gets removed.[21][22][23][24] World Journal, a Pan-Blue Taiwanese broadsheet newspaper, reported that the incident might have been caused by misunderstandings over language and culture, and that the group had raised concerns about public filming due to them being under a non-disclosure agreement.[25]

References

  1. ^ a b c "About @DrKBoogieWoogie". YouTube.
  2. ^ "Brendan KAVANAGH personal appointments - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  3. ^ a b Mitchell, Jonathan (7 May 2017). "'Police officer' musician fools Londoners with dazzling piano skills". Evening Standard. Archived from the original on 7 May 2017. Retrieved 16 January 2020. Brendan Kavanagh, 49, from Wealdstone, donned various guises to appear at train stations and iconic landmarks across London to show off his musical prowess.
  4. ^ "The two best piano players on YouTube have joined forces, and yes, it is brilliant". Ireland Calling. 15 October 2019. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
  5. ^ a b "Teen's rendition of The Sound of Music's 'Edelweiss' at London Underground station goes viral". Classic FM. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  6. ^ a b Dr K Interview on The James Whale Show/TalkTV, retrieved 23 January 2024
  7. ^ Dr K / Brendan Kavanagh on Talk TV with James Whale - 1940 - 16th Dec 2023, retrieved 26 January 2024
  8. ^ "Musician's incredible piano skills make people stop and stare in Cork Airport". Irish Independent. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  9. ^ Nelly Ben-Or on ITV news 26/1/21 (copyright ITV News) in HD, retrieved 26 January 2024
  10. ^ "Dr K's classical and boogie-woogie mentors (01:28)". YouTube. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  11. ^ "Log in or sign up to view". m.facebook.com. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  12. ^ "Brendan Kavanagh's YouTube Stats (Summary Profile) - Social Blade Stats". socialblade.com. Retrieved 22 January 2024.
  13. ^ "'Harassed By Police For Playing Piano' | Brendan Kavanagh Full Interview With James Whale". Talk TV. 18 December 2023.
  14. ^ "Two Irishmen meet by chance and play most amazing piano duet you've ever heard". Ireland Calling. 12 August 2019. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  15. ^ "A 'workman' wowed commuters with his piano skills at St Pancras station". Time Out London. 11 April 2017. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  16. ^ Loh, Matthew. "6 Chinese people demanded that a British pianist remove their faces from his public live stream. The ensuing fight has gone viral". Business Insider. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  17. ^ "Sir Elton John's Piano".
  18. ^ Zifei, Chen; Heung Yeung, Lee. "Chinese flag-wavers call in London cops over YouTuber's livestream". Radio Free Asia. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  19. ^ Police Called To Stop Filming During Piano Livestream, retrieved 23 January 2024
  20. ^ Powel, James (25 January 2024). "London pianist goes viral after clash with 'Chinese TV' group over livestream". USA TODAY.
  21. ^ "We Are Not In Communist China" | Bizarre Viral Confrontation Of Musician Brendan Kavanagh, retrieved 23 January 2024
  22. ^ "Piano Man".
  23. ^ Dr K Vs. The Chinese Communists - Interview On TalkTV, retrieved 24 January 2024
  24. ^ "VIDEO: Brendan Kavanagh tells Piers Morgan that 'forces are at play' to remove his viral video from YouTube | TalkTV". talk.tv. 25 January 2024. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  25. ^ 刪影片爭議後續…女當事人反擊 稱英國鋼琴家歧視 [Follow-up to the controversy over the deletion of the film... The woman countered that the British pianist was discriminating]. World Journal (in Traditional Chinese). 23 January 2014. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
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