What do you hope to get out of this Australian National Piano Award? Meet some awesome people, play some awesome music.

Where do you live this year when in Australia: I split my time between Sydney and Perth, traveling every 2 weeks. I stay with my family in Sydney and Rent a house with my girlfriend in Perth.

Are you a full-time professional musician? Yes

What drew you to become a musician? I come from a musical family and have always wanted to be a pianist.

Do you sometimes perform in an ensemble? I do play in chamber music concerts with friends occasionally.

What is so special about the piano and its music? It is unique in that you are able to play the equivalent of a full orchestra on a single instrument.

What else can you play? When I was 6 I could play piano accordion. Not anymore unfortunately.           

What are your hobbies and why are you passionate about them?

I have many hobbies and go through cycles of obsessing over each one. They include, twisty puzzles (rubik’s cubes), Sourdough bread making and working out. Currently, I am quite obsessed with home automation and programming various things in my home to turn on and off automatically.

Do you do a lot of travel?  Where have you been overseas in the past few years?  I travel quite often, I lived London for 3 years until last year and travelled to other parts quite often. Including various cities in France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Ireland etc…

What are your goals over the next two years? I would like to start to build towards a teaching career in Sydney while maintaining my performing activities.

Who inspires you and why?  I just want to learn and play all to awesome pieces available to the instrument.

Which musician inspires you any why?   The usual greats for the most part, my girlfriend as well. (she’s a violinist)

Which composer’s music do you love and why?  This is too hard to answer, I had favourites when I was younger but as I get older I lean less strongly towards any one in particular.

Do you play sports? I used to, mostly stopped to protect my fingers.

Name 4 of your favourite things to do to chill out/have fun: Cooking, going to the beach, drinking (a little too much) and going to a restaurant.

What’s your idea of fashion/what do you prefer to wear? My wardrobe consists mostly of skinny jeans and t shirts.

How do you relax and unwind from rehearsing? Cooking helps, as well as a glass of wine or whiskey.

How do you care for your back etc. (to stop injuries etc)? I am fortunate enough to not have any issues with my back from practising.

Do you love the movies? Yes, I used to see a movie every week, I don’t have that much time anymore though.

List at least three bars / favourite spaces to hang out in Australia and why? Petition Wine Bar in Perth, Baxter’s inn in Sydney and Boilermaker house in Melbourne.

What is your favourite alcoholic drink? Laphroaig 10

Favourite meal / food / fruit and why?   Jamon Iberico

How long have you been rehearsing for this event? Technically… since I started learning piano?

How did you hear about the Australian National Piano Award? I had participated in 2012.

http://www.jamesguanpianist.com; https://www.youtube.com/user/JamesGuanPianist